Love's Labyrinth
by alitablake
Summary: Ren ends up in a dangerous situation and Kyoko discovers things about herself and him in the aftermath. Epilogue added. M for Violence.
1. Daily Dose

**A/N: New story! I wanted to see if I could write about more emotions and less action. But I didn't have it in me to write just about emotions so there are action scenes in this. **

**No lemons. Sorry. Rated M for Violence. **

**I do not own Skip Beat.**

**I want to give thanks to Risuna-Phenix for being so kind as to proofread this story for me.**

Chapter 1 – Daily Dose

"You should be thanking me."

The taller man didn't make a sound as he drove to their destination. He continued to drive down the street, keeping the speedometer below the limit, driving in what would be considered perfect in the eyes of the law and driving instructors.

"You're going to be gone for next three days, where the majority of the day will be spent at sea without phone reception. This is going to be the last time you can talk to her before your shooting."

Does he really think Ren didn't know that? It was all thanks to Yashiro that he saw her every day. Yashiro meddled in his life because work made it to where his manager didn't have a life of his own. He could quit, no one was forcing him to stay as his manager. Ren would miss him though. Yashiro was the only person who was truly his friend, besides her, but he wanted her as something more than a friend.

"Look there she is!" The man next to him sounded happier to see her than Ren did, and he was in love with her.

Kyoko. Every time he looked at her he was stunned. Not due to her beauty, she was beautiful mind you but because of how he felt. His mouth became dry whenever he sees her. His pulse sped up when she looked at him. Every time those golden brown eyes came his way, they seemed to try and break down the shell that is Tsuruga Ren. When she smiled up at him he couldn't help but smile his real smile down at her. When she laughed, warmth spreads over his body knowing that he made her laugh. On the rare occasion when she touched him, he wanted nothing more than to touch her back, to wrap his arms around her tiny body and let his finger tips touch her soft skin and silky hair.

"Hello, Tsuruga-san, Yashiro-san. Thank you for inviting me tonight," Kyoko greeted them with a shallow bow while clutching her little purse. It was warm out but windy. She wore a light colored floral mid-thigh skirt, a simple white shirt with a jean sleeveless jacket over it and short cowboy boots. She was adorably huggable, but he couldn't greet her the way he wanted to.

"Hello, Mogami-san, how are you?" Ren replied with a small smile. His demeanor spoke nothing of what he truly felt. He was calm, cool, collected and was just going to have a meal with a fellow actor. Inside he was the complete opposite; nervous, excited and emotional.

"Very well, thank you. Shall we go in? I'm sure this is probably the only decent meal you've had today," she said with a snide smile. He knew her smiles just as much a she knew his. Well most of his smiles, a few of his real smiles scared her, and damn well it should. The thoughts he was thinking those times scared himself sometimes.

"I'll have you know I've eaten my meals according to the normal standards like everyone else," he responded coolly. He watched her turn on the heel of her boot and knew he should have kept his mouth shut, but he loved having her fuss over him.

Kyoko shot a skeptical look up at him and asked the obvious question, "What did you eat, Tsuruga-san?"

Before he could make something up, Yashiro cut in with an overly dramatic cry, "He had three cups of coffee for breakfast and some sushi and sashimi from the shoot today." Ren sighed at his manager's honesty and waited for the blow, but it didn't come. He was relieved to see that she didn't get upset like she normally would. Instead, she actually smiled.

"Oh, well, lunch wasn't so bad," she stated, then turned around and started to walk to the restaurant's entrance while speaking, "even if, I'm assuming, you didn't eat the whole thing, at least you ate something. They usually have good food at the shoots, at least the ones I've been to." They entered the restaurant, and Kyoko greeted the host with a smile, asking for a booth towards the back. Ren watched the host's eyes linger on her frame and give her a charming smile. The host even offered her his arm which Kyoko politely refused to Ren's relief. Ren was about to grab the guy and throttle him for trying to flirt with his girl.

_His girl. Ha!_ If only. They followed the host to their booth. Of course, she picked the side facing the crowd, and Ren was forced to sit opposite her, his back to the crowd. While he would love to sit next to her, he told himself that this was better. He could watch her as she ate or spoke or just breathed.

_I'm thinking like a stalker._ He thought to himself and wanted to smack himself. Yashiro sat next her. He was almost jealous, but thought better of it. Yashiro and Ren sitting in a booth together would have been uncomfortably tight. Kyoko's small frame fit a larger one so well.

"Our specials today are a hama shiru soup and an eel kabayaki that is very fresh. May I get you something to drink?" They gave their drink order, and the host returned shortly with their tea and stated that their waiter would be with them shortly. From the looks of it, the place was slow so the host wasn't busy and wasn't bothered by getting their drinks. What annoyed Ren about him were his efforts in flirting with the female of their party.

"Please enjoy your meal," the young host spoke only to her, and Ren had enough.

"Thank you," Ren replied for the table, his voice was dark, matching the glare shot at him. The man visibly paled and retreated to his station. He watched the host walk away, oblivious to the conversation that was happening in front of him.

"Tsuruga-san?" Her charming voice called him back.

"Hmm?" he returned back to their table with a charming smile.

"Yashiro-san told me you are leaving early tomorrow morning for your movie. Are you excited? You'll get to spend three days on a yacht!" Kyoko said enthusiastically.

"Technically, we are shooting at Katsuura and leaving the port just a little bit to make seem like we are in the middle of the ocean," Ren said and looked at Kyoko with a soft saddened expression, "Which means my cell phone won't work if you need to reach me."

_Or if I wanted to call you, _he added internally. If they didn't see each other, he always found a way to call her. If he didn't call her, he was lucky enough to receive a call or two from her for "help". The fact that he got to speak or see her every day for the past few months made him eager for each and every day.

"D…D…Don't worry about that, Tsuruga-san. I'm promise not to disappoint you while you are away," she blushed while she spoke. looking at the napkins instead of anyone. Of course she would think that way, never would he want to actually talk to her just because he missed her or needed to unwind from the day. That the mere sound of her voice did so many things to him and without his daily dose he would feel incomplete. That's just inconceivable.

"I'm not worried, Mogami-san. I know you'll be fine," Ren assured her but not himself. His eyes flickered to her face where he saw a look he wasn't intending her to have. She looked confused and worried.

_She must have picked up the disappointment my voice_. Before he could recover the damage he let slip, the waiter came by, took their order and refilled any drink that was running low.

"Have you even been on a boat, Mogami-san?" Ren asked, needing to change the overall tone of the table.

"Hmm, I've been on a small fishing boat, but never on a yacht," Kyoko responded, "Fuwa-san loved to fish, and Sho-baka never did, so I went with him every so often when I could sneak away from his wife." Ren watched Kyoko slip into herself as she usually did when thinking of her past. There were so many mixed emotions that colored her face. It went from anger to a small smile of enjoyment then to her blinking in fear and finally embarrassment from Yashiro bringing her out of her trance.

_Will she ever stop thinking of __him__? Or at least forget about the shallow idiot, so she could think of someone like me instead?_ Luckily, her thoughts of the singer were decreasing and Ren has been slowly chipping away the damage of his actions. He just hoped that the seed of them together was starting to bloom in her heart.

"Kyoko-chan, you should come with us," Yashiro stated enthusiastically, "There are a lot of extras. You can slip in and spend some time a real yacht." Ren wanted to groan. The only extras on that boat played by women were supposed to be money grubbing bimbos.

He was currently playing a yakuza lord, Tanaka Keiji. The yacht was for torturing information out of people. He would set up a "party" and head out to the ocean, where they would conduct business. On the yacht, they had a small sound proof room with a trap door where they could get rid of the body when they were done. They also used it to lure potential customers and make less than legal business deals. It was very well used by his character; therefore, they dedicated three days to film all the scenes. Not to mention the boat is the turning point of the story, where he learns of his brother's betrayal.

If she said yes, he would have to deal with her in a bikini acting like an idiot while flirting with him or one of his men on the boat. The first part would be hard enough to deal with let alone all the men eyeing her body. Kyoko wasn't the type to be in that situation. She would most defiantly bring out Natsu, and there was no way Natsu wouldn't draw a lot of unwanted attention.

"I would love to, but I couldn't possibly. I have jobs scheduled this week," Kyoko replied softly. Ren was relieved but saddened at the same time. She continued, "Thank you for the opportunity though." She actually seemed disappointed, and he found himself wanting her to come.

"Are you sure? Perhaps you could reschedule them?" Yashiro asked. He wasn't a quitter. Ren watched her think things through. He only knew of Box-R and her Love Me Jobs.

"What jobs are you doing this week, Mogami-san?" he asked causing her to squirm in her seat. She obviously didn't want to mention what job she was booked for, and he was going to press the issue, but their food came. Yashiro saw her discomfort and changed the conversation. He wanted them to be together but not at the expense of someone's work. He asked about her projects and Kyoko replied happily. It was fun watching how animated she got when speaking about her days. She used her whole body to describe things and made the funniest faces sometimes. She lightened up the room with her mood. Their meal was finished too soon, and Ren paid with cash.

"Please let me pay for my portion," Kyoko spoke up which he expected.

"Nonsense. We invited you here, and it's my turn to pay so I am paying," Ren spoke as he slipped on his cap to hide his face.

"Your turn?" She questioned.

Yashiro spoke up, "We switch off paying for meals we have outside of work, since we always argued about who should pay. It's been working out for us." Ren cringed as he saw the sparkle in her eye and predicted her next words.

"That's a wonderful idea! Tsuruga-san always pays for everything when I'm around. Why don't you let me pay, like you let Yashiro-san pay? We could trade off." She smiled a hopeful smile that almost made him say yes.

"No. You are paying for high school, acting school, rent, food, and clothing and off of only one show, Box R. You told me the money from Dark Moon was already gone, and I can afford to treat you. Let me do that," Ren replied, leaving no room for an argument.

They retreated to his car where Kyoko stood in front of it with her arms crossed under her modest chest. She pouted so prettily, making him crave her sweet lips. "May I drive you home?" he asked as he unlocked the doors.

"No, not until you let me pay for something," Kyoko whined, "I will not take advantage of my senpai's kindness." Ren did sigh this time. He walked up to her and sat on the hood of the car, his hands in his jean pockets. With her standing and him sitting, he could look straight into her face without him looking down or her looking up. It was comfortable. He could reach out, bring her close, and they could kiss without any effort. Something he would have to remember.

"A senpai takes care of his kohai, right?" He asked softly. Her face softened as she nodded.

"So why can't I do this for you when you are with me? If you want to make it up to me there are other ways," his voice dipped deeper as he let some of his emotions slip through his voice. Her eyes widened, and he bet she was blushing but couldn't see it in the darkened parking lot.

"W…Wh…What do you mean?" She stuttered. He smiled and lifted his hand towards her. He gently brushed her hair out of her eyes, his fingertips barely touching her forehead like a ghost.

"You can…" _Kiss me. Let me hold you. Love me and let me love you till the end of days. _"…make me dinner like you normally do. I enjoy your cooking very much," he offered. Ren could never say or do the things he wanted. She was stiff as a board as he spoke and when he touched her she looked like she was going to run away.

Her breath came out shaky, and she laughed slightly. "Yes, of course. Perhaps when you come back, I'll pay you back."

"I'd like that very much," he said sincerely, "Now, may I drive you home?"

Kyoko smiled sweetly at him and then nodded. "Yes, thank you."

He had a date with her the moment he came back. Things were good, eventually he would be able to come home to her every night and wake up to her every morning.

**hama shiru – Clams on half shell, sliced ginger and scallion in light broth.**

**kabayaki - a generic Japanese term for a dish of seafood which is filleted, boned and dipped in a sweet soy sauce-base sauce before broiled on a grill.**


	2. Shooting

Chapter 2 - Shooting

Ren and Yashiro packed up and left at 5am the next day. It was about a 3 hour drive to Katsuura City, and they were meeting the crew at the yacht at 10am.

Yashiro yawned. "We could take the train over. That is much quicker, and you could sleep."

"I enjoy driving and this is less expensive and more private," Ren replied casually. He didn't take into account who he was driving with when he made plans to drive there himself. After discussing the next few days, Yashiro started his favorite topic: Ren's Love Life.

"I wonder what Kyoko-chan is doing?" Yashiro asked offhandedly. Ren gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"The way you talk about her and bring her up all the time, Yashiro-san, I would assume you had a thing for her," Ren teased.

Yashiro gasped, "I would never! You love her." Ren smirked. How easily his manager said it and this time he didn't deny it. Why bother, they both knew how he felt about the girl.

"Not to mention she is in love with you," Yashiro said without thinking. A dark aura filled up the compartment of the car, and the smaller man cringed.

"Oh? Did she tell you this herself?" Ren asked darkly.

Yashiro stuttered, "N…n…no."

"Then let us not make up things that you have no proof of," Ren said with a gentleman's smile. The rest of the ride was thankfully filled with random things, anything but Kyoko, and they arrived at the docks with more than enough time even after making a stop for something to eat at Yashiro's insistence.

"Please eat something, Ren," Yashiro pleaded, "I want to be able to look Kyoko-chan in the eyes and tell her that I'm taking care of you."

"Maybe if you stopped telling her what I eat, she wouldn't lecture us so much," Ren retorted.

"I can't help it! I'm a horrible liar, and the look she gives is scary!" Ren chuckled to himself and they stopped for food when they saw an opportunity.

The yacht that was rented was huge. It was 43 meters long with four levels. It was called Big City. Its base was black with the rest of it white, and it had tinted windows which didn't allow anyone to see inside of it. It was so tall you really couldn't see anything on the deck either. They did see the crew walking up and down the ramp up into the yacht. They were greeted by the director who was ordering the crew around.

"Morning Tsuruga-san, what do you think?" He walked over and gestured to the large yacht.

"Good morning Director Kamagawa." Ren took a moment to look at the yacht again. "It's beautiful sir."

"Damn right it is, and the cost to rent it is much as it would be to buy it, so let's make these next few days worth it," Kamagawa stated with a little threat.

Ren smiled his professional smile. "Of course sir," he replied.

"Well come on aboard and take a look around. Everyone hasn't arrived yet, and we are still moving things in, so you have some time before we set off," Kamagawa said and left them to their own self tour. Ren led the way onto the yacht. The color scheme was generally bright neutral colors. Anything wooden was a dark red wood and the trimming was a dark brown almost black. The first thing they saw was the sun deck. It had an L-shape bar with 6 stools, a gas barbeque and even a TV set. Towards the front of the yacht were lounge seating and a Jacuzzi. Leading down to the aft deck was seating for ten for a casual dinner under the stars.

Yashiro went inside first with Ren trailing behind. The inside was just as impressive. The first part was a simple rest area with L-shape light beige couches and a few coffee tables. Then a small credenza that hid a large screen TV split up the room making the next part into a formal dinning area that again sat ten people. Behind a sliding door was a very nice kitchen that Kyoko would have loved.

Ren thought Kyoko would love everything about this and wished she could have come. Maybe she could have acted as a cruise attendant in a proper uniform instead of a bimbo. She would still draw his attention more than the bikini clad women. He fingered the phone in his pocket thinking of her as he headed to the bedrooms.

The master bedroom was separated from the other bedrooms. This one was on the main deck while the others were below. There was a study in the entrance, a walk-in closet, a sofa, a refrigerator, and the bathroom was more than anyone could need. It had his/her restrooms with a central Jacuzzi, large multi-jet shower and a large vanity. This was where his character would sleep usually with a girl in tow.

The remaining four bedrooms were below, two of which had a king size bed, the other two had two twin beds in each room allowing for a total of ten people to sleep comfortably aboard. They hid most of the equipment in the two twin bedrooms since there wasn't going to be any filming there. Ren couldn't really see the beds in the room or make out much of it.

He could see Keiji loving this place. The point of it was that they could sail out to international waters and anything they did wouldn't be a crime under any law. He also enjoyed the fact that it was in the middle of nowhere and felt safe. No one could sneak up on them and capture him, no one can send out a signal or catch him in any acts. It was very secluded and perfect for him.

Ren was in a daze when he heard Yashiro's voice, "Ren, everyone's here." He walked up to the main deck where everyone either was sitting or leaning against the wall. Director Kamagawa stood across the way at the glass doors that lead outside.

"Thank you everyone for arriving on time. We have booked Big City for three days and three nights. There is a crew of eight that will be joining us to take care of the yacht." He gestured to eight men and women who were standing against the wall he was near. They were all dressed in fine white uniforms. "Please don't mind them. They will occasionally need to join in on the shot, so the boat doesn't sink. Just continue with the scene and pretend that was planned." The director looked around for a moment.

"We are going to film the first portion of the movie where Tanaka Keiji is doing his investigation and business and then Ichiro's betrayal. There will only be a few scenes for pitch dark, so we will be able to go back to our beds in a respectable time for once." Some of the crew laughed. A lot of the filming had been done at night, since Keiji was hiding and trying to get his revenge and family back. His character had to keep a low profile through most of the film.

The director continued, "First before we cast off, we will shoot the scenes here at port. We have five cabins and about eight different restrooms. Everyone should have somewhere to go to get dressed while we are out. Make up will be a little slow, so please have patience, and we will get to you when we can. Thank you."

Everyone clapped and started to shuffle around the suddenly cramped area. Aside from the actors that made up about six of them for now and their managers, there was the camera crew, sound crew, key grip, production manager, script supervisor, production designer with two costume designers, props master, several make-up artist and hairdressers and finally there were about ten random extras that were to make up the small party held that evening. This was nothing compared to the normal. The normal had everything plus a dozen assistants. This was a skeleton crew, but they had to all fit on this boat and make it look like they weren't there.

Ren made saw his normal make-up artist and followed her into the master suite. It was almost 11am, and it was a very clear sunny day in July which made it hot and humid. Anything they wore these next few days was going to be torture. Keiji was professional through and through. If he was doing business, he wore a profession long sleeve shirt and slacks sometimes a jacket depending if he was a client or a supplier. When he was playing the playboy, he could go out in casual clothes which should fit the current weather. Luckily, most of the business was being held inside. Just a few hours outside, and he can get out of this long sleeve shirt.

Ren stayed inside as long as possible along with the two other actors who played his bodyguards. He could see the crew outside guzzling water and sweating in their shorts and tanks. Yashiro was kind enough to stay outside, so he could tell Ren when he was needed. He took off his tie and was wearing a short sleeved button up shirt with light colored slacks, and he still looked uncomfortably hot.

"Alright they are ready for you." Yashiro came in and looked relieved to be in the air conditioned interior. Ren stood up and left being followed by his guard. The day progressed as did the temperature. They had to change out their shirts a few times to make them seem cool. It took about three hours before they were done with the first set of loading and unloading scenes. More would be shot when they docked later for few night time scenes.

Lunch was served as the boat left port. They featured a fully loaded sushi bar and several types of yakisoba. Ren took about 10 pieces of sushi and promptly hid in a corner surrounded by his guard. He sat down next to Sakamoto who played his right hand man. Ren looked over and Sakamoto looked a little sick holding on to a small bottle and soda water.

"You alright, Sakamoto-san?" Ren asked, looking at the green man.

"I get sea sick," he replied and shook the little bottle, "pills are supposed to help, soon I hope." Ren leaned back slightly and then flushed with a slight embarrassment from the instinctive gesture.

"We just took off. The boat isn't moving yet, and you're already sick, man," Kato spoke, teasing the green man while snickering lightly. He put a large amount of yakisoba in to his mouth and ate messily doing exactly what he wanted. Sakamoto quickly stood up and made his way out of the room.

"Real classy, Kato-san," Meada, who was to play the captive tonight, spoke as he ate his food. Kato played one of the torturers and was an ass in real life. He didn't really deny it. He often tried to tease Ren but never could get a reaction proper enough from him, so he simply stopped.

The boat stopped about 45 minutes off shore just far enough away to make it seemed like they were in the middle of nowhere. The day progressed without any real problems. The most a shot was retaken was three times and was all held indoors, so it was comfortable in their suits. By the time they were done filming all the discussions and business transactions, the sun was starting to set allowing them to set up the party.

The party was a front to the interrogation of Meada's character, Fujimori. Fujimori was a small time drug dealer that saw too much and was brought in for questioning. Ren was able to change into dark cargo shorts and an open white short-sleeved shirt. Meada's make-up would take the longest, so they started shooting upstairs first.

**The sunset was coloring the sky with every shade of red, orange and yellow possible. It wouldn't be long before the sky was littered with the cosmos. The ocean was as calm as the night was clear, and the people on the massive yacht didn't notice a single thing that was happening around them. Tanaka Keiji left his master suit and was greeted by loud music and beautiful people enjoying the things his lifestyle was privy to. He made his way through the main deck. The men paid their respects to the young komicho, and the women all eyed him seductively. **

**A woman with a hot pink one piece wrapped her arm around his waist as he stepped onto the outside deck. He looked down at her impressive body, and she smiled up coyly at him. The swimsuit tied along the side of her body in four straps and then one in the middle of her breast that was barely hanging on. Keiji smirked at her and lightly patted her ass then walked away. She pouted slightly and walked inside. **

**He sat down next to his second in command, Ishii, "How are things going?" He spoke softly while looking out into the crowd. **

"**They just started persuading him to help out more about 30 minutes ago. Just wait ten more minutes," Ishii replied quietly. **

**Keiji nodded, his eyes glued to a gorgeous woman stepping out of the outdoor Jacuzzi. She wore a standard white string bikini that tied behind her neck and back that couldn't hold up the curves she was displaying. She was as beautiful as the other women, but this one held something different. It was probably her golden eyes and long dark black hair that caught him. Their eyes connected, and she bit her lower lip temptingly. He stood up and walked over to her, wrapping his arm around her waist. His fingers caressed her warm damn skin as he bent down to whisper in her ear.**

"**Keep me company, tonight." Keiji looked down at her seductively, and she nodded. That was the only reason these women came to his boat, for the chance to catch the uncatchable and become queen. He didn't mind using them if they only wanted to use him. The sun sunk into the horizon as he took her to his master suit. As soon as they entered the room, she turned and pulled him to her lips, her hands roaming his chiseled abs and chest. **

"**Stay here. I'll be right back. Stay exactly how you are," he spoke roughly to her, pushing her onto the bed. He turned and walked out the door, heading downstairs. He nodded to one of his men, and they followed him down. Below the deck and bedrooms was another room. A small hot room that was perfect for certain things. Within these walls you can hear the pounding of something, of meat, the sound of something crying, wailing making noises no human should ever make. Keiji stepped into the room with the familiar smell of copper filling his nose. **

"**Do we have anything yet?" He asked as he approached the group of men. The room was small compared to the rest of the rooms, but it was more than efficient. To the right was a long thin table with a plastic cover full of interesting instruments. In the middle of the room was a man sitting, well tied, to a chair. **

**The man's head was hung over, and there was a steady dripping of blood from the tips of his hair. You couldn't see much of his face since he was looking down. His left ear had been removed completely, but the right was left untouched. He had to be able to hear what questions were being asked. Blood ran down his neck into his shirt which probably covered broken ribs and a lot of bruising. His wrists were tied down to the arms of the chair making his arms very visible. There were burn marks crawling up and down his right arm while the left had hundreds of clean, shallow cuts. Just by looking at the damage done, Keiji knew who had done what. **

**His two favorite interrogators had a knack for getting information. Kichida loved to take things apart carefully and very slowly. Yoshida loved to be rough, quick but still as effective. The broken fingers were probably Yoshida. They looked like they went through a press of some sort. There didn't seem to be a single millimeter of bone in it and his fingertips looked like overly ripe fruit that burst under pressure. His other hand looked perfectly skinned. There were no chunks of muscle missing nor any major veins punctured. It was like a real life version of medical model of the inside of a hand, masterfully done by Kishida. On the ground next to his feet were two used up shots. The medicine in them would keep him awake and sane while they did this to him. It wouldn't allow him to black out from the pain. Like he said, they were his favorite interrogators. **

"**Who did it? Who destroyed my factory?" Keiji asked calmly. One of his earliest factories for Speed went down in flames just last week. It was one of his highest sellers, the easiest drug to sell to the younger crowd. **

"**Mori," the victim whispered. "We saw each other as he left your building and tried to shoot me. I ran and hid." His voice was horse from screaming, and his body shook from the pain and meds flowing through his system.**

**Keiji looked at the man, leaned in and murmured, "Mori? Are you sure?" **

"**YES! I SWEAR!" he replied as Yoshida pressed his cigarette into the man's forearm causing him to scream out in pain.**

**Keiji pressed his lips together in disappointment. Mori was one of his brother's, Ichiro's guard. He had always been one to try his hand in dealing but was never very good at it. Perhaps he was tired of babysitting his brother and wanted to take shop at one of his areas. Take out the competition, and he could sell his items in the area, keeping the money for himself. **

"**Find him and bring him in next weekend. Try and keep it from my brother if you can," Keiji ordered. The harsh breathing of the pained man in the chair filled the silent area. Keiji looked at a gun on the table. It was customary to have a silencer on it for the end of the night. **

**He picked it up and Yashida whined out, "Wait, Komicho-sama, please, can I have him for the night?" He gave Keiji puppy dog eyes. If the dog was sick and demented, foaming at the mouth and covered in blood yet had a leach around it that would be Yashida. **

**He shot the captive twice taking him out of his misery, "No. You'll have Mori next weekend. Him. I'll let you have all night if he really took down my first factory. Take one of the girls upstairs… nothing permanent. Clean up first and get rid of the body."**

**Keiji left the room looking like nothing happened. He walked back to the Master suite where the girl he left perked up after seeing him appear. **

"**Where have you been? I've was about to leave," she complained, acting as if he was getting a gift. **

**He snorted, "And go where?" he took off his shirt while walking up to her, the muscle in his chest flexing slightly. **

**She licked her lips staring at his body. "With one of the other men perhaps," she threatened half-heartedly. She started to move to the center of the bed, towards him.**

"**Then be my guest," he replied smoothly. He crawled onto the bed, stalking her, slowly moving towards her across the bed. He was looking dangerous and hungry, while she was a scared rabbit. She didn't say anything. **

"**I thought so. Let's use that mouth for something other than talking." Keiji slipped his hand around her waist and kissed her fiercely. His tongue plunged into hers, and she freely accepted it. He tasted the fruity alcohol she drank tonight as she stroked his mouth. His hands glided her now dry skin up to the little stings of her bikini and untied the one at the middle of her back. Her hands ran up his abs and chest then around his shoulders. As the bikini top came loose his hand cupped and squeezed her heavy mounds causing her to moan into his mouth. He stripped away the rest of the bikini and tossed it to the floor. She ran her hands down his back and groped his ass as he gently pushed her down, his mouth kissing down her jaw and neck, his hand gently kneading her breast. **

***scene fades to black***

"Cut. That was beautiful. Great day folks," Director Kamagawa shouted.

Ren immediately pulled away from the woman who reluctantly let her hands slip away. He could feel her heart beating rabidly and knew that she was enjoying it. She didn't bother to cover up, letting him look as much as he wanted as he pulled away from her. He didn't really care. He turned his back to her, to sit at the edge of the bed and dipped down for his shirt. Yashiro came over with a bottle of water and handed it to him. Ren noticed his eyes not minding the view of the woman behind him as did some of the crew packing up the equipment.

"Great work today, Ren. The boat is moving back to shore, and we should be able to go to the hotel by midnight," Yashiro spoke more to the girl behind him rather than Ren. He was a full grown red blooded man without a romantic interest. Ren didn't blame him for looking.

"Thank you, Yashiro-san. I'm looking forward to a bed," Ren said wearily. He stood and was immediately stopped by a hand at his wrists. He saw Yashiro smile laughing at him and then left the room. Sometimes he hated that man. He was supposed to protect him from crazy women. If there was a group of fan girls, Yashiro would stop them cold but one eager actress, and he was left to fend for himself.

"Tsuruga-san," her voice was thick and honeyed, "you can share my bed tonight. Maybe continue what we were just doing." She licked her lips seductively, her hand crawling up his arm.

He looked down at her. She moved her other arm to cover most of her amble breast giving the illusion of modesty. He had to pick a girl to be Keiji's lover for the night before they started filming. It sounded cold, but they wanted the actor to be at least attracted to the extra they were going to make out with. Ren usually didn't pick but when he saw her coloring, it reminded him of her. Black hair, white skin, light brown eyes, and he picked her. Nothing else about her was the same. She was taller, older than him and had more curves than his Kyoko.

Any man in their right mind would gladly bed her, but Ren was not a sane person. He was in love and not with this woman, who gave herself so freely. He was an idiot. He was single, wasn't he? He could sleep with whomever he wanted, date whomever he wanted and yet he couldn't. He could only think of her.

Ren smiled slightly and placed his hand over hers on his arm, "Thank you for the interest, but I'm sorry, no." He slipped off his shirt and covered her in it. She was still smaller than him and it covered her completely.

"Goodnight," he said with a small smile and walked out of the room.

**Komicho – Boss. I'm not sure if it is only used for the yakuza or if you can use it else where but it generally means Boss.**


	3. Bad Luck

Chapter 3 – Bad Luck

The captain of the yacht spoke to his 1st officer. His daughter was giving birth, and he desperately wanted to be there for the birth of his first grandchild.

"It's not a big deal. Just take them out to the location yesterday and sit there till they are done. You've been with me for three years now, and you have taken the boat with me watching. This isn't as difficult a job as those were. You'll do fine and hey if anything goes wrong, I'll get notified right." Captain Saito waved his phone and eagerly left while 1st Officer, who nodded and grinned. He looked up at the boat nervously but excited. He would prove to everyone especially his father that he was capable of doing what he loved. Hell, his programming degree will even help him with his goals.

"We are ready to part when you are!" The director shouted from the deck railing. Renji nodded and ran up the gangway and to the cockpit. He licked his lips nervously and motioned the yacht forward to their destination. He had done this dozen of times, today would be no different. They left later that day, focusing on more of the night time scene and the betrayal.

Not ten minutes after leaving the port, there was a knock at the door. Renji looked back and called out, "Come in." He didn't want to take his eyes off the satellite navigation, so he didn't notice the very voluptuous woman he had been flirting with yesterday walk up to him.

"What do you ne…ed?" He glanced behind him once and then again as he noticed who it was. He blushed lightly and stuttered, "Na..Naomi-chan."

"Hi there," her voice was deep and matched the way she stalked towards him. "So you are driving today, huh? You control this big boat." She pressed her swimsuit clad body against his and suggestively ran her fingertips up the front of his thigh towards his groin. Renji licked his lips and looked at the map. They were close enough. He turned around and filled his hands and lips with her. He kissed her as he moved his hand back behind himself for the lever that controlled the speed. He moved it down towards him slowing the boat down till he felt it stop then promptly placed his hand back on the woman in front of him.

A few new actors came that day, Kiyomizu Tadao played his brother, Ichiro, and there were three others who played his body guards including one who played Mori. The same women were here yesterday in different swimsuits and hair styles to make them look like different women but they weren't getting much camera time this time. The focus would be down stairs with Mori at first then everyone would gather.

**Keiji wanted to be here for this questioning. Mori always had high goals but no brains to do it, and he was already screaming before they really got to touch him. **

"**I didn't do it! I swear! It wasn't me!" Mori screamed as he struggled against his bindings, sweating bullets. **

"**We know you were at the building before it went up in smoke. It was obviously you. Just admit it, and we will make it painless." Keiji heard Yashida make a sound of protest but was quickly silenced by a glare. **

"**I did it, but I was order to, ok… I didn't want to do it, but he told me to. It wasn't my idea!" He cried out. This man was so weak. How did he stay at Ichiro's side all this time? **

"**So who told you to do it?" Keiji didn't like this. Something felt wrong, but he needed to find out who was the mastermind. **

"**WHO?" Keiji picked up a spike from the table and slammed it into Mori's forearm. Mori screamed, and Yashida came rushing over. **

"**Komicho-sama, you shouldn't get your hands dirty. Let me." Yashida started to force the thin spike down Mori's arm that Keiji had impeded into the chair. Mori started to screech in pain. **

"**STOP, PLEASE, STOP!" **

**Keiji tapped Yashida's shoulder, and the grown man pouted and stepped back. "Tell me who?" He asked again.**

**Mori whimpered something he could hear. Keiji leaned in and asked again, "Repeat it, clearly, or Kishida will have his turn." **

**Suddenly, the door behind them was flung open. Keiji twisted behind him ready to beat the person who interrupted them and noticed his brother. Before he could register what was happening, Ichiro shot Kishida and Yashida, and the gun was pointed to him. Before he could blink, Iishi promptly pushed Keiji behind him and took the bullet and before Iishi hit the ground Keiji had his gun out and pointing to his older brother. **

"**What the fuck are you doing, Ichiro!"**

"**Taking what is rightfully mine, little brother." Ichiro stepped into the room where several of Keiji's men filled it and pointed their guns at him. He looked around and pain filled him then rage. **

"**Why are you doing this? I gave you everything you wanted to keep you happy, Money for drugs and women, feeding your damn gambling. You were living as you always lived," Keiji yelled out trying to understand what was happening. **

"**Then father died and left everything to you! I'm the first son. It was suppose to be mine to rule! NOT YOURS!" Ichiro screamed.**

A loud scream from the upper deck interrupted Ren's next line. Director Kamagawa yelled out, "CUT! Who did that?" There was a sound of gun shots next and everyone rushed out of the room to the upper decks. They didn't get to reach the area before they were met with a few men with guns. Men they didn't know with real guns.

A man smirked at them and spoke low and cool, "Alright now, you boys put those toys down, hands on your head and head up stairs with the rest." Ren looked around as they walked, the night sky was so very dark, a moonless night showing through the windows. But their yacht was lit up like a birthday cake making the area around them seem darker. Everyone was on their hands and knees in the living room area, most of the women were crying silently.

There were about four men with fully automatic sub-machine guns. Hold down the trigger and it would continue to spray bullets until it runs out. Others had semi automatic shotguns and most had other deadly weapons strapped to their bodies.

"Who are you people? Is this some sort of prank?" Director Kamagawa yelled out and was promptly hit in the gut with the butt of a gun bring him down to his knees. More shots were sounded behind them from the engine room.

"Now, now," an older man came in from the outside holding an assault rifle on his shoulder, "if everyone just does as we say, we will take what we want and leave you fine people in peace. Didn't they tell you not to travel in international waters so late at night?"

_International waters?_ Ren looked out the window and sure enough he couldn't see any sign of civilization anywhere around him. As soon as Ren moved into the main living room he noticed movement just outside the glass doors on the deck. Two men were caring a body to the edge of the yacht. He recognized it as one of the sound techs. He watched them throw him overboard to be swallowed by the ocean waves. They were all pushed into the room and forced on to their knees, their hands still on their heads. As they sat, there was another sound of splashing water, but he couldn't see what it was. If it was like the last, someone else was killed with the second round of shots.

"Relax. Put your hands down. It may be a while." The leader spoke so relaxed like he was an invited guest and everyone did as he said. He sat down on one of the stools in front of them and then looked around. "Get me a drink," he ordered and pointed to one of the women on the floor in the back of the room by the bar.

Since no one moved, one of the gunmen grabbed her arm and yelled, "Takamura said to get him a drink!" She cried out in fear and ran to the bar. She grabbed a bottle of saki and stepped between everyone kneeling to give him the bottle. He took it from her and took a drink of the alcohol. Before he was finished his first sip, she already ran back to her spot hoping that was all he wanted. He didn't argue which was a relief. They sat and watched as the men loaded up the film equipment onto their boat. They took anything that was of value. As they did that, a man with a bag came forward.

"Put anything in your pockets or on your person in the bag. I don't care if it is pocket lint I want it all." The man with the bag spoke and everyone dumped everything into the bag. The women put what little jewelry they had on but most came from the men.

Ren eyed the man as he approached him; he removed his watch and ring, dumping them in the bag, then his wallet, cell phone and necklace. He looked around again and found most of the men were staring at the women who were still in their very revealing bikinis. As they were dumping their items in the bag another man walked up to the leader.

"Boss, people just called in about a status on the boat."

Takamura murmured, "Did you take care of it?"

"Yeah told them everything was fine, and that they needed extra time to film tonight." Takamura waved his hand, and the man retreated back to the cockpit.

Everyone just sat and waited. Some tried to not look around, staring at the floor. Others, like Ren, were watching all the men in the room. Takamura looked bored and started to strike up a conversation, "So what are you filming out here?" No one spoke. They were too frightened. He groaned. "This happens every time. They are all too chicken shit to talk."

Ren spoke up, and he felt every eye turn to him. "We are filming a yakuza movie called, _Blood for Blood_."

Takamura looked at him with a small smile on his lips then took another drink of the bottle. "Oh yeah? What is it about?"

He kept his eye on him. Ren heard a whimper coming from the back of the room. Looking back, he noticed one of the men rubbing a lock of hair from one of the girls between his fingers.

"The second son of a yakuza family inherited the family business when their father dies. The first son was considered irresponsible and everyone agreed the second son would be a better choice. The first son didn't agree and betrays his brother, tries to kill him. The second son then proceeds to take back the family throughout the movie." Ren's eyes kept flickering back to the girl in the back as the man played with her hair as he explained the movie plot.

"Who do you play?" Takamura asked. "No wait. Let me guess, the second son, the hero." Some men laughed with him as if he made a funny. Since he answered his own question, Ren didn't do anything. He continued, "Well you answered my questions, you may ask yours."

"Get him to stop touching her," Ren commanded. Everyone held their breath at the boldness of the request. Takamura's smile widened.

"Why? He isn't hurting her. Are ya, Eiji?"

"No, I would never hurt a pretty woman like her," Eiji said in a deep throaty voice. The woman's eyes were closed shut and shaking in fear as Eiji kissed her hair.

"Please," Ren asked through gritted teeth, "may they at least put on their robes?"

Takamura laughed and so did his men, "But the view is so nice, ah, but since you asked so nicely, I'll let them cover up if…." He looked back at one of his men, and he smiled and left.

"If what?" Ren spoke softly.

"They trade their swimsuits for the robes. Each lady will come up take off their suit, and Kin here will give them their robe so they may cover up." Kin came back with an arm full of white fluffy robes that were for them between shoots but was too warm to wear, so they were left in the back.

"No, we are fine," one woman screamed out as Ren cursed at himself. He was just trying to help, and he made things worse.

"No, no. This nice young man was kind enough to answer my questions, and I want to repay him by fulfilling his request." He motioned towards the girl who spoke, and Eiji grabbed her arm. Most of the women were next to him since they were hoping to be farther away from the majority of men. She screamed and fought against him in vain. She was pushed to the front and fell to her knees.

"I will not!" She curled into herself wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Yes, you will." Takamura stated and motioned to the man on his right. He smiled as he gave his gun to the man in control of the room. He grabbed her arms and hauled her up to her feet. She tried again to fight him off, but it only excited him further. His right hand held her small wrists easily holding her up on her toes while his other hand roamed down her small frame.

Ren couldn't stand watching this and tried to stand, to stop it, but the person beside him pressed the barrel of the gun to the side of his head.

"Just sit and watch, pretty boy." Ren glared at the man and kneeled back down. He turned back to the woman as the man unhooked her top letting it fall to the ground. His hand lingered and pinched the woman's breast and nipples as she tried desperately to pull away. He moved his hand down her flat stomach and into her bikini bottom. She screamed has his hand cupped her womanhood, jerking her hips away from him.

"Enough!" Ren's voice rang out clearly, angrily.

"Yeah, enough of the teasing, and let's see the rest!" Another man spoke out making Ren's comment seem like he was part of the show. The man holding the girl slowly removed her bottoms, his hand deliberately feeling her ass and sex as they fell to the floor at her feet and all the men with guns whistled and hooted at the girl.

"As promised, Kin give her the robe," Takamura said with a smirk. Kin stepped forward as the man holding her let go, and she collapsed onto her knees sobbing. Yashiro was the closest person to her as Kin threw the robe on top of her. Yashiro moved forward and quickly wrapped the woman with the robe and was met with another gun at his head.

Yashiro didn't bother to stop. He stilled for a moment, licked his lips nervously and pulled the woman back towards him. No one stopped him or threatened him in anyway. They just let him help her. The robe covered every bit of skin except her hands, feet and face. She clung onto Yashiro and cried as quietly as she could in his arms.

"Next?" Eiji grabbed the woman he was eyeing and was moving forward with her.

"I'll do it! Please just let me do it," she pleaded jerking away from the man. Eiji seemed very disappointed but let her get to the front alone. She hid her face with her hair and in a blink of an eye removed her one-piece suit, covered what she could and held her hand out for the robe. All the men booed and cried foul.

"She did it, give her the robe!" It was one of the camera men this time. They were all getting bolder as people started to help each other out, and no one was getting punished. Kin tossed the rope to her. She quickly put it on and moved back to her spot on the floor.

"That wasn't any fun. The next girl does it slower, or I'll let my men do it for you." Takamura pointed at the dark haired girl that sat in the middle of everyone, and she trembled as she made her way to the front. She did go slower and even turned around when they told her to, her arms to the side as tears fell down her face. They were pleased by this and allowed her to return fully covered. Instead of moving back to where she originally sat she walked towards Ren. He felt the soft terry cloth robe touch his arm but his eyes were only for the men in the room as she sat down behind him.

They progressed through the six women and everyone was covered up finally, but Takamura wasn't done yet. He turned towards Ren again who was sitting there glaring. Most people would have been intimidated. He used it enough to know that normal people would be frightened but not this man. While the men around him held their guns a little tighter, this man looked like he found an interesting hungry dog in an alley that he wanted to keep.

"Are there any other requests you have?" He smiled.

"No," Ren stated firmly. He would not be used again.

"Such a shame. I liked your request, it was fun." He sighed like he was truly disappointed. "Well I guess we start entertaining ourselves," Takamura announced, and his men all happily yelled out, moving forward towards the women. All the women started to scream and huddle closer together in vain trying not to be grabbed. The woman behind Ren cried out as the man nearest them grabbed her. She clung onto Ren's shirt, her head pressed against his back trying to hide.

Ren immediately stopped him. He grabbed his arm and jerked him down, making him lose his balance. As the man was falling forward, Ren took advantage of his forward momentum and forced the heel of his hand up and into his nose breaking it. It wasn't enough to kill him but allowed Ren to grab him and use him as a shield as the man cupped his bleeding nose. All the guns in the room were pointed at him now, the room scary quiet.

Takamura burst into a full blown laugh unlike his men who were itching to pull the trigger. When the leader calmed down he wiped away tears from his eyes. There was a smile on his face but his words held a very careful threat, "that was very stupid, Tsuruga."

Ren's eyes widened in shock, and Takamura continued, "Yes, I know very well who you are. We may spend most of our time out here, but we head to shore often enough. Japan would be mighty upset if you ended up dead." His face matched his tone as his voice dipped lower threatening, "Don't test me."

Takamura nodded once, and Ren felt someone step behind him. Before he could react, the world went black as something very hard knock him out.


	4. No Hope

Chapter 4 – No Hope

Yashiro watched as they dragged Ren away. Fear ran through his veins, and he spoke up, "Where are you taking him?"

"To your little play room down stairs," Takamura answered without really looking at him.

"To do what?" Yashiro continued. This time Takamura did look at him rather curiously.

"What concern is it of yours?" The woman in his arms whimpered and tried to sink in deeper against him. She didn't like that he was drawing that man's attention.

"I'm his manager. His well-being concerns me a great deal," he spoke carefully.

"My men are just having a little fun with him; to see which will last longer, his spirit or his life." He laughed again. Yashiro sat analyzing the situation and saw little to no hope in their survival. They would either rape all the women and then kill everyone, or just kill everyone and maybe take the boat or sink it. He had to try and save some of them though.

Things got out of hand abruptly, a slap resonated in the room, then three extremely loud shots were fired and a painful yell of one of the men was sounded soon after. Everyone scrambled away from the area in the back.

"Damn it, Eiji!" Takamura yelled, "Get the fuck out of here and on the boat, you fucking idiot." Behind them, the extra that Eiji was eyeing laid dead with two shots, one at her heart the other lower in her abdomen. The third shot hit the grip in the thigh, and one of the make-up artists rushed to help stop the bleeding. Eiji's was rubbing his cheek as he walked out the door.

"Get that out of here," Takamura ordered, pointing at the body. Kin and the other man beside him walked over everyone to the woman's body. They lifted her up and shuffled her out of the room and over the railing.

"Wouldn't it be better if you ransomed us off than kill us one by one? Tsuruga, Kiyomizu and Kamagawa would get you a few million each. You could probably get a couple hundred thousand for rest of us. We would be worth more to you alive and well than dead on the ocean floor," Yashiro spoke seriously, his tone business like. These guys were thieves and thieves liked money.

Takamura didn't say anything; he simply sat there looking at Yashiro contemplating what he said. Kin and the other man stepped back inside and took their post beside him. Finally, Takamura spoke, "and I suppose you know exactly who to contact for said ransom." Yashiro nodded, hope filling him for only a moment. Until the older man laughed and spoke, "I'm not a fool. Ransom sounds nice, but it's too risky. It doesn't matter who it is, they will get help and try to rescue the hostages." He waved his hand in the air to dismiss the idea. "We do fine with the money we get now."

One of the men who took Ren came back. There was blood splattered on his clothing, and he was nursing a busted lip and limping slightly. He ignored everyone and made his way to the bar stepping on anyone who didn't get out of the way and took a cold foreign beer to his mouth.

"You thought you could take him?" Takamura laughed at him. "He definitely is more than meets the eye. What is his deal, manager?"

Yashiro answered, "I really don't know. He only fights on film, and he's never shared his past with me. Your guess is as good as mine." He paused. "May I ask a question?"

The man smiled and asked, "Are you going to be as inventive as your client?"

Yashiro shrugged. "I just wanted to know how we got so far from our destination."

Instead of answering the question himself, he motioned to the 1st officer. Renji was nervously shaking, his eyes flickering to something on the wall. Yashiro looked up and noticed it was a clock. It's been about 5 hours since they hijacked the boat. Renji finally noticed that everyone was looking at him and stiffened.

"Tell them what happened, Captain," Takamura said the word captain like it was some sort of joke.

Renji coughed and answered, "The engines stayed on the lowest setting causing us to move slowly away from Japan's waters; however, we shouldn't have made it to international waters yet, not at that speed."

"That's a technicality. It's so dark at night. It's hard to tell where the borders are. Now tell them why you didn't notice the boat was still moving." Renji simply blushed at Takamura's question.

"Aww, he's shy. Then allow me, he was distracted by the woman at his side. We were so thankful of him bringing you guys out to us, we even let them get dressed." He looked back at Yashiro. "Now see aren't we nice?"

"No," Yashiro said coldly, "It would be nice if you took what was of value and just left us here alone without killing three people and torturing the rest of us." Another shot rang through the room, and Yashiro felt his world crash. That came from the below where Ren was. Perhaps he got the man's gun, and it was Ren who shot at him. _Of course, Ren is fine._ Yashiro thought to himself, but what emerged from the sliding door was not Ren, guns a blazing, but some other random killer.

"Make that four, Manager. I'm sorry, looks like you're out of a job," Takamura said with fake sorrow. Yashiro just closed his eyes and laid his forehead on the woman's head, defeated.

There was a knock at the door, and Eiji slipped in, "Sir, we loaded everything on the boat, including clothes and other things. Shall we load the women?"

"Wait! Why take the women?" Yashiro yelled, holding on to one of the women.

"To sell, they'll fetch a good price if my men don't break them first," Takamura said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Takamura nodded to his men, and the women started screaming. Yashiro stood up as they took the girl from his arms but met with someone's fist. The right hand man took him down with a single punch, his whole face felt it as it throbbed to his heart beat. He wasn't a fighter, he knew that and the foot that kicked him repeatedly throughout his body proved he didn't have what it took to take a hit either. He ran to keep in shape and running wasn't something he could do here.

Yashiro was gasping for air and coughed up blood as he was forced onto his back. The girl he was trying to protect was no were to be seen, and the only people in the room were men. They even took the make-up artists and the props master, the only other women who weren't extras. Their screams could still be heard through the walls as well as the laugher of the men on the other boat. A thought entered Yashiro's mind of what will happen to them, but was distracted as a very large combat knife pierced through his shoulder and into the floor underneath. He screamed and felt the pain shoot throughout his chest.

"Just in case you were thinking of getting up," the man scoffed and then left.

Takamura finally got up and stretched. "Thank you for your wonderful hospitality this evening." He stated and started to make is way out to the boat.

"What do we do with them, sir?" Kin pointed his gun towards the men of the room.

"Kill them, or sink the boat with them in it. We aren't taking it," Takamura spoke over his shoulder then slipped through the sliding doors to the open deck. Kin pointed the sub-machine gun to the right of the room.

"No hard feelings. I'm not one to make things painful." He smiled. Renji was the first one of the line up.

"No! Please," Renji yelled, and everyone closed their eyes at the sound of the first shot fired. They all waited for the blow; however, it didn't come. Yashiro, still pinned to the floor, looked and found Kin lying on the ground with a hole in his head. He looked around as best as he could but didn't see anyone.

"This is the Maritime SD Force, lower your weapons and lie down on the ground," a voice ordered through a large speaker. They didn't listen, shots were fired into the rescuing boat as a last ditch effort to escape Japan's marine military force.

"Thank God. It worked." Yashiro heard someone say. He could hear the voices of the staff and of the soldiers. Someone was beside him, but he couldn't see them. His side was throbbing in pain, and the knife was still in his shoulder.

"Hold on, sir. We got you." An unfamiliar face filled his vision. He shook his head and tried to speak.

"Ren," was all Yashiro was able to say before they pulled the blade out. He screamed out in pain as his vision went white then doused into black.


	5. Denial

Chapter 5 - Denial

_Earlier that evening_

Kyoko took off the head of her Bo costume relieved to finally take it off. She loved her job there but during the summer months it almost killed her. She cringed as she slowly peeled off her sweatband. She wanted a bath badly. Thankfully this was the last job of the evening.

"Great job tonight, Kyoko-chan." Hikaru was always the first to compliment her.

"To all of you as well," She replied with a smile and started to waddle to the dressing room when Yuusei put his arm around Bo's shoulder.

"Hikaru would love to have you join him for dinner, Kyoko-chan." He smiled at her and then winced has Hikaru punched his shoulder.

Shinichi then spoke up, "What he meant was that we would like for you to join **us** for dinner tonight. What do you say?"

Kyoko pouted slightly and declined, "I'm so sorry, but I'm not presentable enough to go out after the show, perhaps next time." She smiled and forced her oversized body through the door closing it behind her.

"I tried, dude," Shin'inchi said sadly.

"Same thing every week," Hikaru sighed.

"Must you be so blunt all the time?" Yuusei asked with a sigh.

The voices of the three men didn't filter through the door and into Kyoko's ears. She was enjoying being released from the oven. She turned on a little fan chilling the sweat that covered her body. Goosebumps covered her skin as she finally freed herself. She took out a small bottle of fabric freshener and quickly sprayed down the suit. It was cleaned every week, but she couldn't just leave the thing ripe with her sweat.

She quickly downed a bottle of water and got dressed. She hoped for a breeze in the mid-summer eve but was not granted one, so she had to create her own. She hopped on her bike and started pedaling down the street home. It was a short ride back, and she was greeted by her landlords at the end of the dinner rush.

"Welcome home, Kyoko-chan," Okami-san greeted her.

"Thank you. Do you need help?" She offered.

"No, child, go upstairs and rest. We are fine." The older woman loved that she offered. After all the things she does throughout the day, she still tries and helps them around the restaurant. Kyoko bowed down to her and then to the Taisho, who just nodded sharply. She slipped off her shoes at the base of the stairs and went straight for the bath. It felt wonderful, but dared not stay there for too long. She quickly washed up and dressed to help them clean up. She still had to do her part for her rent. She wasn't tired either, so this should help sleep.

Since it was so close to closing, she put on a plain blue tank top and some simple tan shorts instead of a kimono. She headed down stairs, and Okami-san just sighed with a smile. She greeted the customers who were always happy to see the pretty young girl and helped close down the shop. She was cleaning a table when someone entered the store.

Without looking up she spoke clearly, "I'm sorry but we are closing now. I hope you can come ba… Moko-san?" Kanae stood at the door way looking frightened and worried.

"What's wrong, Moko-san?" Kyoko took her arm and guide her to sit at the table she just cleaned.

It took a few moments for Kanae to speak, "Kyoko, Tsuruga-san…" Another breath, "His boat was taken. I…" she licked her lips, "They didn't say a lot of details, but they said that they were hijacked by pirates."

Kyoko blinked. "Pirates? Like from the past? With the bird and the eye patch?" she really couldn't believe what Kanae was saying. Her very sane friend was talking about pirates.

Kanae shook her head frustrated. "Mo! They are just thieves on boats. We still sail items on boats, and they are still people who sail around and steal them." It looked like Kyoko was in lala land. Kanae shook her shoulders slightly.

"This isn't a fantasy. This is serious. They hijacked the yacht that Ren was shooting on. They will kill everyone on it, including Tsuruga-san and Yashiro-san!" At this Kyoko went pale.

"But…but how do you know this?" She whispered out the words.

"It was on the news, something about the captain of the ship getting a text from the ship while on land. I'm not sure, but they sent out a plane to investigate their location, and they found another boat next to theirs. Kyoko, there were a lot of men with a lot of guns." Kanae stood up and took Kyoko's hand which felt very cold. "Come on. I spoke with President Takarada, and he is getting more about what's going on. I came to pick you up."

Kyoko sat there looking very lost and very confused. She couldn't feel the hand that was holding hers nor did she really think about where they were going. They arrived at LME in a few minutes in Kanae's used car. By the time Kyoko noticed where she was, she was already in Lory's office, who was talking on the phone to someone.

Before Lory was asked, he spoke about the progress, "They are sending the military in to get them, but they won't be able to go for another few hours still."

"Why?" Kyoko finally soaked in the information, "Why not send them now before something happens?"

"They want to send another plane in for more information. Some of the ships are very well prepared for military forces, and they don't want to send people in for a suicide mission. It's just to make sure that when they go rescue them, they will get rescued." Lory was pacing and had stripped off his costume to only have on a basic pair of black pants and a loose white shirt. The fact that he wasn't parading around in some outfit made the girls even more frightened.

"Is there anything we can do?" Kyoko asked desperately, but Lory shook his head.

Kanae wanted something to take up the time, but they could only wait. Wait to see if the people on the boat would survive long enough for the military to get them. She posed a question, "Tsuruga-san isn't due to come back till tomorrow night at the earliest, how did they find out about the hijacking?"

Lory embraced the distraction and answered, "Ah, the captain received a text on his phone about engine failures. It turns out the 1st officer is a programmer and created a beta monitoring system that notifies him and the captain about any failures or system shut downs that happen on the boat. He wanted a way to monitor the main yacht while they sailed the smaller boats with their customers." A woman entered the room, Lory's secretary, with a small cart of tea and small finger foods then left.

Lory continued, "Something happened to the engine and the program triggered sending the message to the captain's phone. The captain was with his family celebrating the birth of his granddaughter when the message arrived. After an hour of investigating, he found that they were way off course and asked for a satellite feed of the area the GPS stated they were and found there were two boats. That's when he notified the police who in turn got the JMSDF involved."

Kanae and Kyoko were not technologically adept so everything that Lory stated sounded like something from a movie. Kanae continued her questioning, "Is that program thing really possible?"

Lory nodded. "Sure. The monitoring system is something they use in most networking systems, so this young programmer took that basic idea and applied a communications response to it using the satellite com they have on the yacht. Every time something different happens, it picks up that error and sends it to their phones."

He paused. "As for actually finding them, almost everything has GPS. Even if the boat didn't have a GPS, our company cell phones do. After the planned film shooting was done and they didn't arrive, a search would have gone out." Lory stilled for a moment and swallowed, "Thankfully that little program notified everyone much sooner."

"What I would like to know is what happened to cause the engine failure and send out the text?" Lory asked rhetorically. He was staring out the window at the darkening sky. He glanced down at his watch, only 30 minutes had past. It would be at least another hour and a half till they send out the rescue party.

The tea and food went completely untouched as there was little to no movement in the room. Time slowed to the point of stopping. It didn't even crawl or slide like a slug across a sidewalk. It simply stopped and as months seem to pass by the phone finally rang. The first ring didn't finish its little jangle before it was picked up.

"Hello?" Lory stood still and listened.

"Thank you, where?" he nodded, "yes I know where that is." He hung up and started walking, "Come on, they got the boat, and they are taking everyone to Shioda Hospital." The girls stood up and half ran after the president.

"How are we going to get to Katsuura?" Kanae asked. They followed Lory to the stairs. Before they had time to repeat the question they were running up to the roof top where a helicopter was prepped and warming up with Sebastian waiting at the controls.

"He can fly this?" Kanae yelled out nervously. If Lory responded, they didn't hear it. They put the head gear on and buckled up for the flight then held on for dear life.

Kyoko's mind was buzzing, arguing with itself. _Is he ok? Of course he is. What if he is hurt? Then he will have to stay at the hospital for a bit. What if…? HE'S FINE!_ Everything is fine. They will land at the… wherever they were landing, go to the hospital, and he will be walking out with Yashiro-san without a hair out of place. Kyoko forced a small smile on her lips. She focused on breathing and trying to take in the sights below her.

The only thing she remembers seeing was the hospital that came into view. It seems they were landing in an empty parking lot of an office building right next to the hospital. The helicopter took over 30 minutes to get there, and Kyoko was getting tried of trying to keep her mind blank. It landed with a thud, and the engines started to whine down.

Lory started unbuckling his belt, speaking to the girls, "Alright, let's…"

"KYOKO! WAIT!" Kanae screamed and fought to get the stupid belts off of her. Once she was freed, she hopped off the helicopter hunching down to avoid the blades that would never actually reach her and ran after her best friend.

Kyoko ran and climbed over the chain link fence that separated the lots. Once she hit the ground, she threw herself up and ran to the hospital entrance door. She didn't hear the cursing going on behind her as Kanae struggled to keep up. She saw the entrance door and ran through it. She skidded to a stop at the nurses' desk.

"Please, I'm here for the yacht hijacking," Kyoko's voice was rushed and panicked. Kanae came in, her breathing coming out in harsh gasps.

"Miss, please calm down. Only family can come in. Are you family to one of the victims?" The nurse sounded tired.

"No, but please just tell me if he…" the nurse interrupted.

"Then I'm sorry you can't come in. Please take a seat in the waiting room and…" Lory finally appeared and interrupted the nurse.

"Madam, my family is here. Tell me, is Tsuruga Ren alright?"

"Tsu...Tsu…Tsuruga Ren? No sir, I'm sorry, but he was not admitted here." The nurse told them confidently. She would know if a star that big checked into her hospital.

Lory looked confused and asked, "What do you mean? They told me that all the victims were shipped here. Tsuruga Ren was on that boat as well as his manager, Yashiro Yukihito."

The nurse perked up at that name. "Oh! I know he is here. He is in room 403. Hey! Wait! Security!" Kyoko took off once she heard the room number, the elevator was just about to close when she slipped in and rammed the forth floor button repeatedly as if it would make it go there faster.

After a few minutes, she found herself in the hall looking for the room. _407. 408. _She turned around. _408, 407, 406…403._ She halted at the door but noticed that he was talking to a policeman. She forced herself to stay outside till he was done.

She heard Yashiro's voice speak, "He broke the guy's nose and then they knocked him out. Two guys then dragged him to the bottom room where they were filming the integrations for the movie. Are you sure he wasn't down there? The military came shortly after I heard the gun shot go off in that area."

Kyoko gasped. _Gun shots. _Her heart was beating out of her chest.

"Everyone they found is here, but according to the list, there are a few people missing, Tsuruga Ren is one of them. If everyone is correct in their reports, it doesn't bode well," the cop replied.

"NO!" Kyoko screamed, startling the two men.

Kyoko turned around the corner and walked slowly towards Yashiro's bed. He looked awful. Half his face was a giant bruise, one eye was swollen shut and his arm was in a sling with a very large bandage that covered both sides of his left shoulder. His chest was wrapped around with more bandages but peaking from below and above was more bruising.

"Kyoko," Yashiro's voice was soft.

"He's fine. He's okay right? He just wasn't hurt enough to be taken to the hospital. Yashiro-san, please tell me he is ok." Tears were starting to run down her face.

"Miss, you can't be in here," The cop stated sternly as he stepped in front of Yashiro, who could only stare back at her.

"Wait, just tell me where he is? A hotel? Back at the docks? Where?" Kyoko asked desperately.

Yashiro's fist clenched. He didn't know what to say. For once, he completely forgot about her. What she would think or do if she found out? What he would say? He really didn't think that he was going to make it out alive and then he did, and she is here, and he couldn't look at her.

"YASHIRO! WHERE IS REN!" Kyoko screamed. It was the first time she ever used Ren's first name, the first time not using honorifics, her voice cracked and broke into a sob as the cop gently pushed her out the door.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Yashiro mumbled over and over again. Kyoko watched as he looked away, tears falling. The cop shut the door and locked it. There Kanae and Lory found her crying and pounding and screaming at the door.

"WHERE IS HE? TELL ME!" She kicked at the door and threw her shoulder at it to try and break it down.

"Kyoko," Kanae called out as she approached her cautiously. Kanae stayed with Lory as he dragged every piece of information the nurse had on where Tsuruga may be and found that they accounted for everyone but four people. Since they pushed the bodies they killed into the ocean, they were going to send out a search party once morning hit to recover them. There they would see if they found all four missing people.

"Kyoko! Stop please," Kanae pleaded and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, slowly bringing her arms down.

"Moko-san, they won't tell me where he is. Why!" Kyoko turned her head to look at her friend.

"Kyoko, he's missing," Kanae said softly.

"Missing? But he was on the boat. We know where he is," Kyoko said trying to sound convincing.

Lory took a deep breath, approached the two girls and spoke softly, "They couldn't find him at the boat, Mogami-kun." Kyoko looked up at the taller man and he continued, "They are going to go out this morning and look for him. Okay? They will find him, and you'll see him soon."

Kyoko took a calming breath and nodded, "Ok, Takarada-san. Can we stay till he arrives?"

Lory frowned but nodded. "Sure. I'll set up a place for you... and Kotonami-kun?" He looked at Kanae, and she nodded, "to stay at till he arrives. Don't worry about work for either of you." Kyoko nodded again, and they left the hospital. The first thing Kyoko wanted to do was go shopping for food.

"Even if he doesn't say so, he is going to need to eat once he comes in. Let's make him something for when he returns," Kyoko stated. Kanae could only agree. She didn't have the heart to tell her what they found out about why the people were missing. They went down the isles of the grocery store, and Kanae started to worry. Kyoko was gathering enough food for a small platoon.

"Kyoko, even if he was hungry, he won't eat this much," Kanae said carefully. Their shopping cart was to the brim.

"Oh, but there is you and me, Yashiro-san, Takarada-san, Sebastian-san and maybe even Maria-chan, so I have to make lots," Kyoko explained. The man Kyoko called Sebastian paid for everything despite Kyoko's objection, President's orders, and he drove them to their condo. To call it a suite or a hotel room would have been an insult. It was a two bedroom condo that was rented out for them and was fully furnished. It was an open layout that had the living room, dinning room and kitchen all within view of each other. Then there was a small hallway that lead to the two bedrooms and a single bathroom.

"All this for a single day, Takarada-san is too much," Kyoko sighed and started to pull things out of the bags as Kanae heaved her load to the counter.

"Kyoko, maybe…" Kyoko looked at her with curious eyes, "there maybe a chance that…" Kanae licked her lips trying to find the words.

"What is it, Moko-san?"

Kanae shook her head. "A chance that everyone would want something different and everyone could arrive at any moment, so let me help you," Kanae offered, unable to say the bad news she truly needed to say.

Kyoko smiled brightly. "Really, Moko-san! Oh, you're the bestest friend!" She ran over and hugged her and for once Kanae let her. She didn't fight it, she didn't force her down, she let Kyoko hug her for this hug seemed so much more than her normal ones.

As this girl hugged her, Kanae felt the small tremble in her frame. She could feel her heart beating faster than it should and could feel how much this girl was fighting to keep from breaking down.

Hours went by, and the sun finally came out. They finished about a dozen different sides and dishes along with several different sauces and dips and a few deserts. Kyoko then insisted in making them breakfast completely separated from the food they just prepared and put away. It was a simple breakfast of miso soup and rice. Kanae enforced that they eat something light to keep their appetite for the feast they just made. The reality of it is that she couldn't really fathom the thought of eating much with all the stress of the night.

Kanae helped with the dishes, and she felt dead tired as they sat on the couch. "Kyoko, lets go to bed for a little bit. They will call us when they find him."

Kyoko shook her head while staring at her phone. "I'm not tired," she replied. She looked over at Kanae and a worried look came over her. "But please, you go ahead and sleep. I promise not to make too much noise."

Kanae looked at her anxiously but nodded. "Wake me up when… well for anything, ok," she said worriedly. Kyoko just nodded and checked her phone. Kanae headed off to bed, taking the first bed she saw and fell into it.

Kanae woke up on her own. She was wrapped up in a thin blanket that she didn't remember putting on and all the blinds and curtains were closed. Again another thing she didn't remember doing. She pulled her arm free and looked at her watch. It was just after two in the afternoon. She slipped off the bed and looked in the other bedroom. It was perfect, nothing out of place. This was Kyoko she was thinking about so if she did go to sleep and woke up before her, she would have made the bed. Kanae padded back into the living room.

"Kyoko?" her voice was dry and barely above a whisper. Kyoko was still sitting in the same spot staring at her phone.

"Kyoko, did you sleep?" Kanae asked and watched her shake her head.

"I'm not sleepy," Kyoko replied and turned towards her with a look of fear and concern, "Moko-san, I don't think my phone is working. No one has called yet."

Kanae rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat next to her then took her phone. She opened it then sent herself a text. A few seconds later her phone on the table played a little tune. She stood up, grabbed her phone and showed it to Kyoko.

"It's working, see." She showed off her the little text then handed Kyoko back her phone.

"Send something back to see if I'm receiving," Kyoko asked eagerly. Kanae took a deep breath and typed out: Test to Kyoko. Again a few seconds later, Kyoko's phone did its little tune and vibrates.

"Did you receive anything from anyone?" Kyoko sounded so hopeful. Kanae looked through her phone, searching her messages. There was one from her family which she usually ignored and there was a voice mail.

"Kotonami-san, this is Yashiro," pause, "I just wanted to call and see if Kyoko-chan was ok. I…I… I don't know what to say to her. I really don't know where Ren is or what happened to him. Please call me if I can help." The phone click over to the automated voice, and she hung up.

"There was a message from Yashiro-san." Kyoko perked up optimistically, "He was just checking up on us seeing if we had heard anything yet." Kyoko frown slightly at the news.

Kanae decided to try and distract her. "Well, hey, have you eaten? I'm hungry after sleeping most of the day away."

"No, not since this morning, want me to make you something?" Kyoko looked up at her.

She shook her head. "No, it's ok. I can make something for myself."

Kyoko shot up. "No, please let me fix you something." Kanae stopped and let her take over the kitchen once again. She needed this, needed something to take her mind off of… things.

"Make us something. You need to eat to," she corrected.

Kyoko turned and nodded with a weak smile. "Of course," she replied cheerily. The day past, and the sun was setting. No one called nor did anyone knock on their door with a surprise.

"Takarada-san, did you hear anything?" Kanae asked pacing around the lot. She was asked to call up everyone and ask for updates. Kyoko didn't want to tie up her phone line.

"No, nothing." Lory sighed, "They found two out of the four, a man and woman. The man was the engineer that took care of the engines, and the woman was an extra from the shoot. Ren and Inoue Ken, one of the sound techs, is still missing."

"They haven't found him yet, Kyoko," Kanae whispered softly.

"How is she doing?" Lory asked.

Kanae walked away from the couch where Kyoko sat and answered, "She hasn't slept since she found out. The only time she eats is when I do. All she does is stare at her phone and check for messages. I'm going to try and get her to sleep tonight."

"Moko-san," Kyoko's voice carried down to her in the hallway.

"One moment, sir." She walked down back to the living room and replied, "What's up?"

"Have they checked his apartment? Perhaps he is already there," she asked optimistically.

Before Kanae had a chance to ask, Lory spoke, "We'll send someone down and look, and I'll call you back."

"Thank you sir." They hung up and Kanae sat down on the couch.

"They are going to look and call me back." She glanced down at her watch. "Kyoko, why don't you go to sleep? It's 9:30, and you haven't slept in over 24 hours."

"I'm not tired." her voice said otherwise. Her eyes started to form dark circles and bags.

Kanae got upset and stood up angrily. "Don't lie to me! I'm your friend, right? Friends don't lie to each other. You are going to bed, right now," she commanded.

Kyoko shook her head as she spoke, "I'm not…"

"MO!" Kanae kneeled in front of her, pleading, "I'll be up. I will have both of our phones, and I will wait for their call while you sleep. Ok? I promise you that I will wake you up the moment any one of our phones rings, or if someone is knocking at our door or at our window if it happens. Please Kyoko, go get some sleep."

Kanae's phone rang, and Kyoko pushed off the couch a little, expectantly. Kanae listened for a moment.

"Ok. Thanks," she spoke into the phone and hung up.

"His place was empty, and the doorman hasn't seen him enter either. Now come on, let's get you to bed. You'll feel better in the morning." Kanae urged, but Kyoko didn't move.

Kanae had one last card up her sleeve before she resorted to drugs. "Tsuruga-san would feel terrible knowing you stayed up because of him."

That did it. "You're right, Moko-san. I'll go wash my face and head to bed." Kyoko stood up but then stopped. She looked up at her with the most dreadful look. "You promise you'll wait?" Her voice held such need she hated hearing it.

"Yes. I swear," Kanae stated. Kyoko nodded then handed Kanae her phone.

"Thank you, Moko-san," she said softly. Kanae watched her leave then sunk down onto the couch.

"Please be ok, Tsuruga-san, please." She whispered into the empty room. She looked up and out the window into the night sky. "Don't take her away from me like this," she buried her face into her hands, "not like this."


	6. Bargaining

Chapter 6 – Bargaining

Day two of the search came and went. Kanae convinced Kyoko to go out shopping for clothes since they didn't bring anything with them. It didn't take much to convince her, she wanted out of her clothes just as much as Kanae did. They found a small clothing store near by and made a few purchases; panties, socks, some shorts and shirts for each of them. They didn't have a single bra but they did find some shirts that had support sewn in them. Kanae tried to get Kyoko interested as they shopped, but to no avail.

"Do you like this one?" Kanae held out a pale yellow tank that felt very soft and looked like it was worn loose.

"Sure," Kyoko replied as she checked her phone again.

"Try it on, see if it fits," Kanae said, holding the shirt out to her.

"I'm sure it does, Moko-san. It's very pretty," Kyoko stated, frowning at the phone with its new charge. Kyoko started to freak that it was dying, and they didn't bring their chargers.

"What do we do! We have to go back home! We have to go back!" She was jumping up and down after she woke up and noticed the battery.

"We can just go to a cell phone place and get it charged there, I've done it before. We'll be fine," Kanae assured her. The young sales clerk was more than happy to help out the two beautiful girls. After some time, their phones were charged, and they left. Kanae sighed and just added the tank to the pile. After that she didn't ask for her opinion anymore just her size. Kyoko didn't even notice that they left the store and didn't pay for a single thing.

"Moko-san, you should have told me when we were paying. I would have paid for my things," Kyoko complained.

Kanae just waved it off. "You can pay me back later."

The first thing they did when they arrived back was take turns in the shower. Kanae went first then Kyoko. Kanae didn't know someone could shower so fast but sure enough she smelled like the soap and shampoo they had gotten. Kyoko again made lunch, refusing to eat all the food they made yesterday and again used Kanae's phone to call everyone.

"They figured out how the signal was sent. When they fired at the engineer, a stray bullet penetrated the engine room causing a malfunction. The 1st Officer had his phone still and felt it vibrate, so he knew the whole time that the message was sent out."

Kanae frowned. "And he didn't do anything to stall or try and help people not getting killed?"

"It takes a unique person to step into a dangerous situation. Don't think ill of him, Kotonami-kun. They also found the third man, Ken. Still nothing on Ren. Perhaps you two should come back. You can wait in Tokyo while they search," Lory suggested.

Kanae moved the phone away from her mouth to speak to Kyoko, "Kyoko, Takarada-san thinks we should go home and wa..." Kyoko shook her head fiercely.

"If the condo is too expensive to keep, I can pay for a motel somewhere else cheaper," Kyoko stated stubbornly. There was no arguing with her recently.

"No, sir, she would like to stay," Kanae relayed Kyoko's reply into the phone.

"I heard her. Tell her that she can stay there at the condo, rent is not an issue." Kanae nodded and they said their good-byes. It was close to noon, and Kanae felt sleep tugging at her. Kyoko was at the couch again.

"I'm going to bed, Kyoko," she informed her friend. She just nodded. Kanae squeezed her shoulder a little, and Kyoko gave her a weak smile.

_Two days later - sunset_

"What do you mean they are calling off the search?" Kyoko yelled into the phone.

"Mogami-kun, it's been four days, and they haven't found anything on Ren at all. No one has seen him, or anyone looking remotely like him. There has been no body..." Kyoko sucked in air harshly. Lory paused, "Nobody… that has found a single personal affect of his either. We were lucky to get them to keep searching till now."

She felt to her knees. _This wasn't happening._ She shook her head. _It can't._

"Please, Takarada-san, please keep looking," Kyoko begged, "I'll do anything. I'll go looking myself. I'll fund the search. I'm sure there are others out there that would help search for him."

"Mogami-kun, perhaps you should accept the fact that maybe he's..."

"DON'T SAY IT!" She screamed into the phone, her voice thick, her eyes swimming with tears, "He is fine. He probably has amnesia or maybe some crazy fan recognized him and has him locked up in their home. I'll go out and talk to every person here if I have to. I'll do anything and everything to find him and bring him home." She hung up on Lory rudely though she didn't realize it, and then got up, grabbed her purse and started putting on her shoes.

Kanae ran up beside her. "Kyoko, you can't be serious. They looked everywhere. They've looked within a ten-kilometer radius of the site and found nothing. It's almost completely dark, and you can get hurt," she tried to reason with her. Anything to make Kyoko see straight. Kyoko didn't say anything, she stood up and tried to open the door, but Kanae was there blocking her.

"Move," Mio spoke. Anger. Anger was something Kanae could deal with.

"No. It's late. You aren't going to find anything out there but trouble," Kanae spoke to her like she was disciplining a child. Kyoko face was wet and her eyes red.

She looked into Kanae's face and let out a small sob. "Please, let me go find him. I promise never to do anything embarrassing to you for the rest of my life if you let me go," she begged.

Kanae pressed her lips together and conceded, "I'll go with you." She slipped on her shoes and they left. The town was actually small, and they closed most things at normal times, so the night was spent mostly roaming the area. They found several 24-hour gas stations and questioned the employees there. It was easier than normal since most people knew who Tsuruga Ren was, but the negative replies came quicker as well. They spent the night and the majority of the next day, once everything opened, asking everyone and anyone if they had seen him. They found a temple as they wondered about.

"Let's go in and ask them, Moko-san." They walked towards the front and slipped off their shoes before entering. It was small but still very beautiful and serene. They walked around a little bit but couldn't find anyone.

"I'll go look for someone," Kanae offered and left.

Kyoko looked around and found the incense prayer shrine. She looked at all the offerings and she went to her knees in front of it. She pressed her hands together and then bowed down deeply three times. Her breathing started to quicken harshly as she took up an incense stick and lit it, her eyes growing blurry due to unshed tears.

She closed her eyes tightly, the tears falling down her cheeks. "Please, bring him back," she whispered.

"He is a good man, kind to others, smart, sweet, wonderful. Don't take him away." She wove her fingers together, her knuckles growing white with tension. "I'll do anything you want. I'll stop bothering him with questions. I won't hassle him with food anymore. I'll become a better person, one that won't depend on him so much if that is what he wants. If that is what it takes for him to come back." She looked up blinking away tears.

"I'll…I'll forgive Sho. I'll stop my revenge and focus on positive things. I swear with all my heart, just please give him back. Don't take him away. Don't take away another person I love."

"Kyoko," Kanae's voice interrupted her prayer, and she quickly wiped away her tears.

"Yes?" Kyoko stood up and turned towards her.

"They didn't know who Tsuruga-san was, but I pulled him up on my cell and showed them a picture. They said they don't remember seeing anyone like that or anyone that looked like they needed medical attention." Kanae told her. Kyoko nodded and started walking out the temple.

Kanae stayed in front of the shrine for a moment looking at the incense Kyoko offered, her last words haunting her memory, _person I love._


	7. Anger

Chapter 7 – Anger

Kanae woke up and could feel her feet throb. After the first day, she was able to sleep and then walk around all day again, but after the third day of walking up and down streets with little to no breaks, her feet and legs were killing her. Luckily, it was stopping today.

No, not the search, the massive walking. They had a quick breakfast and went to the lobby. There waiting for her were keys, beautiful keys to an even more beautiful car! It was a simple blue mini that President Takarada sent, well Sawara probably sent it and in Kanae's eyes it was the best gift she ever gotten even if it was a loaner.

She unlocked the car, and they both hopped in. "Ahhh, this is so much better than walking to each area," Kanae said contently.

Kyoko nodded. "We'll get everywhere faster, and we can cover more ground, I agree completely, Moko-san," she said frankly.

Kanae groaned but started their trip to the east side of town. Their condo was in the south west side of the town close to the hospital the victims were sent. So the southern side was pretty much complete. Kyoko had it all planned out, they were going to make a big circle, working their way in a circular zig zag like pattern. She had a map and had mapped out the whole town. She wanted to ask all 22,000 people if they have seen Tsuruga Ren, not that they were actually going to be able to do that, but she hoped for the majority.

They parked where they left off, and it only took ten minutes to get there, versus forty-five minutes on sore feet. They still had to walk though, just not nearly as much. Still the heels that she was wearing when she came here were at the condo, and Kanae very much loved her new sneakers. They entered the first store and an elderly woman behind the counter greeted them. Kanae looked around the small fabric store and saw no one but them in it, so she joined Kyoko at the counter.

"Are you sure? Perhaps just walking by or anything?" Kyoko asked again.

"No dear, I'm sorry. I hope you find him though." She smiled encouragingly which Kyoko returned.

"Thank you," she replied. They walked down the street and visited each store, asking the same questions and getting the same answers.

"This is so irritating," Kyoko griped as they took a break for lunch. They sat at a small café and waited for their meal. "You would think someone has seen a major star like him in this stupid little town," she grumbled.

"Kyoko, calm down, maybe he is in hiding, because he knows he's so famous," Kanae pointed out. She rotated her ankles below the table and wiggled her toes, trying to get some comfort for her feet. Kyoko snorted thinking that this was the same man that wanted to take the subway to a job.

"Maybe if you tried harder than, "Have you seen this man?" we would get somewhere," Kyoko muttered annoyed.

"Excuse me!" Kanae snapped. Several people turned and looked at their table, and Kanae lowered her voice, "I've been here with you asking every person I see for his whereabouts, and it doesn't matter how I ask. It's all the same thing." She looked angrily at the carrot top girl.

"Besides your whole speech about helping find him is just a waste of time and breath. It takes you one minute and fifty seconds to finally relay all that crap you made up to each person, while mine takes ten seconds and you know what?" Kanae paused for effect.

"We both get the same damn answer." Kanae crossed her arms aggravated, and Kyoko huffed undignified and left the café. Kanae hung her head down and sighed. This was the second time Kyoko criticized her for something. The first time she let it go but this time, she didn't take it. Still she felt bad. Kyoko was just getting frustrated, and she shouldn't have said those things.

Kanae stood up from the table and went to the counter. "Could we get that to go please?" The cashier nodded and went to the kitchen to change the order. Kanae sat back down till the food came, paid, and went to find Kyoko.

Kyoko stepped out of another shop with no luck and plopped down on the edge of a bus bench. Two feet came up to her and held out a white styrofoam container. She followed the arm that held it and looked up at her best friend.

"I'm sorry Moko-san. I didn't mean it. I know you are just trying to help," Kyoko said sadly and took the bowl of ramen.

"Mo, it's ok." Kanae forgave her easily and held out Kyoko's set of chopsticks as she spoke, "I like your little speech. It makes me feel like we are part of some Red Cross relief group or something." Kanae smiled as Kyoko laughed, and they ate their lunch.

The next day didn't start well. Kanae loved watching the news and being up to date in the world, so she turned on the TV that morning.

"_We are here at the front of LME, Tsuruga Ren's agency, watching hundreds of fans come and place thousands of candles and memorials at the front entrance for their beloved actor." The reporter spoke into her mic as the camera views the crowd._

"_I loved him so much, and he is gone just like that," A fan girl spoke with a photo of Ren clutched within her arms._

"_There will never be another to replace him," Another woman cries, holding a candle for him. _

_The next really couldn't control her voice, she kept hiccupping and sucking in air, "I'm going to miss him so much!"_

_There were even men there. "Great actor, that's rare these days. All the good ones end up leaving in some way or another."_

_The reporter came back on. "There as been no word of an official memorial or burial service as of yet and none who has worked with him are willing to give comment. It looks like most are clinging to hope that the young actor is still out there. This is Suzuki Ai for Tokyo Channel 5 News."_

They drove out and all day Kyoko was in a foul mood. This time she didn't take it out on her though. She took it out on the paper or anything that mentioned anything about Ren. They entered an electronic store, and she turned the channel to something else if it was showing the news.

"Can I help you with something miss? Are you looking to buy a television?" Kyoko smiled a scary sweet smile and shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry, but we are helping with the search and rescue of Tsuruga Ren, have you by chance seen him?" The speech. At least she didn't destroy the merchandize like she did at the news stand. There were two stacks of news papers with large headlines on them: _Tsuruga Ren not found, presumed dead._

"May I have a large coffee please?" She asked the overweight gentleman behind the counter. After paying the man, she 'accidentally' spilled the whole cup right on the stack of papers. Since they were fanned out, she got every single one of them.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sooooo sorry." Tears flooded her eyes, and she looked up at him with such guilt. "I'm so clumsy." She picked up the top copy of it, and the rather large puddle of coffee spilled onto the other stack of newspapers that held another depressing headline.

"Oh, Oh, Oh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She stepped back, her hands in front of her like she was in major trouble.

Finally the man ran out and blocked her from his stand. "It's ok, miss. Don't worry about it, it happens." He tried to get her to stop crying. "There is a nice coffee shop right down the street that serves better coffee than I do to be honest. Why don't you pretty girls go there, ok?"

"Oh but sir I have to repay you." Kyoko looked up at him innocently.

"No, no. it's fine. Just have a good day. Ok," he said sweetly but they could see how desperately he wanted them gone. Kyoko bowed down several times, and they walked away. Not a minute later, Kyoko's eyes were dry, and she smiled as she asked another person if they saw Ren, like nothing happened.

After that day, Kanae tried to keep her away from radios, televisions or news stands. After another day passed, and they finally finished the businesses of the eastern side.

"Ok! Now for the residences," Kyoko stated enthusiastically causing Kanae to groan.

"Are you sure you want to do homes again?" Kanae asked hesitantly, "We meet some really angry people while doing that. Some didn't even answer their doors thinking we were solicitors."

"They came out eventually," Kyoko said innocently. Kanae rolled her eyes, anyone would answer their door with Kyoko's persuasive techniques. She would knocked on the door and could feel that people were in there. Strange forces seem to force those people out of their seats and over to the door to answer them. They all looked pale and scared out of their minds making Kanae remember what it felt like to lose control of her motor functions.

"Kyoko, we had people threaten to call the cops on us," she tried again.

"Why would they do that? We are just trying to find a missing person. The only ones who would do that are those that have something to hide!" Kyoko stated righteously. Kanae gave up and drove to the first neighborhood. It usually went well, most were house wives or the retired elderly, and they would comment about how they would miss him, and that they haven't seen him. But then you get the dead beats or the assholes that for some reason weren't at work.

"I don't want it," a man shouted at them and closed the door, or he tried to. Kyoko was able to stop the door with unimaginable forces.

"Please sir, we are just hoping that you have seen a missing person. It will only take a moment of your time," She stated with that sickly sweet smile.

"No, please remove yourself from my property immediately, or I will call the cops," the man spoke out, a little frightened.

"Sir, you are being unreasonable. Just one question," Kyoko pleaded but little did they know, the man called the cops before he answered the door.

"Ladies, I'm going to need you to come with me," a stern voice spoke behind them. They looked up at the officer and both groaned then jumped when the man slammed the door shut and locked it. They sat on a long wooden bench that made up the waiting area for the police station. There weren't very many people there. He sat opposite them, elbows resting on his knees.

"Ladies, we have every man out there right now keeping an eye out for him. Please let us do our jobs, go home and rest or go back to work. We will call you the moment we find anything, absolutely anything out." Officer Kaneko was an older man, withered and tired.

"What is the harm in letting us look too? We are two extra set of eyes." Kyoko was trying not to scream at him.

"You don't have the authority to do so, or the experience and you two could get hurt," he replied.

"I don't care if I get hurt!" she spoke through gritted teeth.

"Yes, well, we do. You are good girls, and I can see that you are fans of his but leave it to us ok. If we catch you guys again, we'll have to lock you up. Now, go home." He got up and turned his back to them, walking off.

"Ugh! The nerve of that man, he thinks we are obsessive fans or something. Stupid police aren't doing anything!" The door slammed against the wall as Kyoko opened it. Kanae quickly checked to make sure nothing was broken and then gently closed it behind them.

"Kyoko, they are trying. There is no reason to be so angry with them, too." Kanae had only seen her get angry for one person, Fuwa Sho and never for this long. For the past few days, she was either deathly angry or irritated at everything.

The police didn't stop them, so they continued quietly, only sticking to public places. It took them five days to get through the northern part of town and finally finishing the circle of the western side. They stayed at any place that would allow them to loiter and asked every person who walked in and out of the place if they saw him till they were shooed away. By this time, most of the town knew about them and just answered before they asked their question

"No, it's such a shame. I was such a fan of his work. He was too young and handsome to di…"

"AH! Thank you ma'am," Kanae stopped the older shopkeeper before she could finish her sentence. Died, dead, gone, deceased, departed any and all words of those types met with very angry words and very scared people. The more they interviewed people, the angrier Kyoko got.

Kanae had felt her unearthly demons before, but as they made their way around town a new level to her demons appeared. She had yet to direct them to her but the mere presence of them seemed to make the area dark and deathlike quiet. It felt like you were a five year old child, and the monsters in the dark that mommy told you weren't there just grabbed your leg, and your voice stopped working.

Kyoko let out a frustrated angry growl. "Stupid people and their assumptions!" Kyoko stomped around walking to the next store.

"They act like he's de…" choking on her own word, "won't come back." She finished. They stepped up to the entrance of another store, and she plastered on a fake smile before entering the store. "Excuse me, sir, we are helping with the search and rescue of Tsuruga Ren, have you by chance seen him?" She had gotten very good at that.

The first sickly sweet smiles were like phase one. At first, Kanae thought she was actually smiling then she found out otherwise. She would approach every person with a kind smile. Her whole face and body would radiate that she was just a worried helpful soul trying to find a missing person. Her eyes would be filled with worry and concern, her body would be relaxed and her voice was calming and approachable, but the next moment when they were alone, she would tense up, everything she did was forced like she was fighting herself. She would yell and trash talk, Kanae wondered if she was going to start cursing.

_Where did she learn to do this?_ Kanae wondered.

Kyoko heard a beep, and Kanae flipped open her phone for the tenth time today. "Who keeps messaging you, Moko-san?" Kyoko asked annoyed but tried to sound curious.

"Oh, ah, it's my family. They are wondering when I'm coming back. Sorry." Kanae stated with an apologetic smile. Kyoko nodded and stepped into a restaurant, not noticing Kanae bite her lip and quickly type out a response. They have been here before. They actually decided to restart the search. Well, Kyoko decided. Kyoko could remember every person she asked, but every time she saw someone new she had to try. She promptly came out after hearing the same thing again.

"Arrrrrg! No one knows anything!" Kyoko shrieked. Kanae handed her a bottle of water, which she drank half of it right away. They sat down on the curve, and Kyoko noticed that her friend was nervous.

"Is everything ok, Moko-san?"

"Yes," Kanae said and finally saw the thing she was waiting for and stood up. "Come on, Kyoko, it's time we go home." A large white Hummer 2 pulled up in front of them, and Lory stepped out.

"What? No!" Kyoko stood up furious and took a step back. She wasn't done yet. How could her friend betray her. "You were talking to him, weren't you!" Kanae flinched as her words, her accusation cut through her.

"Mogami-kun, you are wearing yourself out, hurting yourself. Let me take you home." Lory held out a hand to her.

"NO! I can't believe this!" Kyoko yelled out in a fury, "You are quitting. You are like a father to him! How can you just stop and not care about what happens to him? With all your money, you could have funded the search, but you didn't. You didn't do anything, just gave up!"

Kanae took a step towards her. "Kyoko, please, we are worried about you. You aren't thinking straight; we've been doing this for days with little sleep and junk food. He's gone."

"HE CAN'T BE!" She screamed out to the street. "They didn't find a body! He isn't walking around. He has to be somewhere. You have no proof one way or another. You just want him dead!"

"Kyoko! Now that is taking it too far!" Lory bellowed.

Kyoko looked at them cruelly. "Is it? Is it really? Perhaps you were jealous. Jealous of his youth as you grow older." She looked over at Kanae, "Jealous of his acting ability. Knowing you could never be as good as him." Her hands were clenched together. She was visibly shaking.

"Now you are forcing me to give up. To give up on him and leave him alone and scared. Scared that no one will ever find him, that no one cares enough to keep looking. Drowning in pain and sorrow, scared knowing that no one will help. Feeling alone while they tell me I'm not good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, never enough."

Lory and Kanae was taken aback and glanced at each other as her words changed, but she didn't stop.

"Never having anyone around, never having anyone say a kind word to you. You don't know what it feels like being constantly thrown away by the people you love. Trying so hard to get them to notice you, to feel something towards you and knowing nothing you do will work. Then finally having someone, finally someone to…" Kyoko fell to her knees, her voice going soft.

"Love. I wish I didn't have a heart. Love brings nothing but pain, unbearable pain. I tried so hard not to fall in love, to not see him as a man, but as a teacher, someone who guides you then lets you go. Teachers are kind, and you don't fall in love with them. They help you, and you think fondly of them as you move on, but Tsuruga-san… Ren… I love him," she moaned and wrapped her arms around herself, folding into herself.

"I love him, and he's gone," She cried and wailed. Lory walked over, kneeled down beside her, and then lifted her up in his arms. She buried her face in his plain button up shirt, and Sebastian drove them home.


	8. Despair

Chapter 8 – Despair

"You really don't know where he is?" Okami-san asked.

"No idea. I have people everywhere looking for him, his body, something. I've gotten nothing," Lory replied. The restaurant was closed. Lory, Kanae, Okami-san and the Taisho were sitting at a table while Kyoko was asleep upstairs.

"Thankfully she is alright and back home." Okami-san held her husbands hand, and he squeezed hers gently.

"She is far from alright. Physically she is there, but she just realized her own feelings for him and the nature of the situation. She cried herself to sleep on the way here." Lory looked over at the caring couple. "Please watch her carefully, and don't let her do anything rash."

Lory stood up. "If you need anything, anything at all, please don't hesitate to call me." He left his card and left.

Kyoko woke up wrapped up in her futon. Her body felt heavy, her mouth was dry, and her eyes didn't want to focus. Her head hurt, as did her chest. Her eyes focused on the window. It wasn't dark, but it wasn't bright either. She moved her head to where her alarm clock was - 5:40 am. She couldn't remember when she fell asleep.

She didn't want to remember, but that's all she could do was remember. She remembered the last time she saw him, almost two weeks ago. She didn't know it was going to be the last. How could she have? If she did, if she had some inkling of what was going to happen she would have begged for him to stay, stopped him in some way, slashing his tires, giving him minor food poisoning, something, anything to make him stay.

Maybe if she had gone with him like he offered. Maybe if she was there, she would have noticed that the boat was moving further way from the coast, or that there was a strange boat approaching them, and they could get away. But she wasn't there, and she didn't stop him. She let him go, let him slip through her fingers before she even realized how she felt about him.

Did he think of her? How would he react knowing how she felt? Would she have told him if she knew sooner? Her heart clenched. No. She wouldn't have said a word. He could have anyone and she was nobody. At least he was still around her, still around to see, to talk, to visit, and act with. Not anymore. More tears fell from her eyes and onto her pillow; she let a shaky breath out as she quivered. She buried her face into her blankets, sobbing softly. There was a knocking somewhere. She opened her eyes. She had fallen asleep again. Someone was coming in, a soft voice was heard, a woman.

"Kyoko-chan? I brought you some food." It was Okami-san. She barely moved her head to look at her caretaker as she set down a tray of food: fish, rice, natto and grilled vegetables with a small pot of hot tea. She should eat. Eating was something you had to do every day, but she wasn't hungry. When was the last time she ate? She couldn't tell you.

She pushed herself up off the floor, and the blanket fell down to her lap. Okami-san brushed away some her messy hair from her face as she sat before the tray of food. Kyoko picked up the small bowl of rice and took some into her mouth with her chopsticks.

"I'll come back for the tray later." The woman smiled and then left. Always leaving, never staying. No one ever stays. She put the food into her mouth and forced herself to chew, to swallow. Deep down she knew the food tasted good, but she couldn't taste it. Taisho always made such good food, hence the reason they had so many return customers; however, if it wasn't for the texture, she didn't know if she was eating fish or rice.

She remembered all the food she had made with Kanae. "What a waste," she mumbled to herself. It was suppose to be for him. He always ate everything she made. She felt something hit her hand. Water? She turned and looked at the window. It wasn't raining. There, another drop. She put her chopsticks down and gently touched her cheek. _Will they ever stop?_ She lay back down, her eyes were burning and darkness fell over her again.

Okami-san knocked lightly after an hour and opened the door. Before she spoke, she saw Kyoko sleeping again. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought Kyoko died. The girl laid before her, wrapped from head to toe in her blankets curled up into herself, breathing softly. She looked down at the tray and not even half of it was eaten. She picked it up and headed back down stairs. Taisho was at his station cooking for the customers when she placed the tray of food down at the edge of the prep area. His face turned more into a scowl once he saw it barely touched. He looked up at his wife who looked like she was about to break down and cry.

"What do we do?" She whispered to him heartbroken.

"Keep trying," he said softly, not wanting the customers to hear their conversation. His wife nodded and took the tray to the back to dump, then came out with a professional smile.

"Yo! Where is Kyoko-chan? I thought she came back already. We miss her!" One of the regulars asked naively.

"Ah! Well she did but um…"

"She's sick. Leave it be," Taisho interrupted and his wife let out a relieved sigh.

"That's too bad." The customer said and then lifted his glass, "To her health!" he cheered and some joined him enthusiastically. Okami-san and the Taisho fully agreed. The day passed and they closed up shop. They tried to feed her twice more, again she only ate a bit and left the rest.

"Kyoko-chan," Okami-san spoke softly, "Why don't you go take a bath? You haven't left your room since you arrived."

Kyoko nodded and crawled out of her futon. She was shaky and stiff, but she managed to get up. While doing so, Okami-san grabbed her robe and personal bathing supplies for her.

"Thank you," Kyoko whispered, weakly grabbed the items and left for the bathroom. Okami-san took this opportunity to clean and change the sheets. She felt so useless, for this was the only thing she could think of to help.

Kyoko slipped into the tub with water that was too hot, but her body adapted quickly. The bath was small but was fine for her small frame. _It's so much smaller than his bath._ His was huge, she felt like she could swim in it. She remembered her hesitation at bathing at a man's house. _Was he offended when I thought of him as a hentai? I'm such an idiot._

She got mad at herself, _how many annoying things did I do to him? This is karma. The reason he is gone is because of me._ She dunked her head into the water and stayed under. What if he died like this? Drowning. Her lungs began to burn. He was hurt and couldn't swim. She closed her eyes as the need for air became stronger, and then his face came into view above her.

She burst out gasping for air. She looked around wildly. There was no one, nothing. What did she see? Was that his spirit or her mind? That was enough. She stepped out and let the water drain. Back into her room she stood there in her robe, and his face captured her sight. She stepped up to the poster on her wall. She looked at the other man beside it and then back at him. Reaching up she pulled the poster of Sho off the wall and let it fall to the ground. Now the only thing left was his face. His hair was blowing forward across his left eye. His eyes were half closed, looking at you like you caught his attention for the first time. A small almost smile on his lips.

She thought of his smiles, how much his fake smile would scare her, knowing what he was truly feeling underneath, his kind smile, where he would just tilt his head slightly after she did something good. Then there was that smile, the one she forced herself not to recognize but hated when she saw him use it on Momose-san.

She was such a fool. How could she get jealous of something that wasn't hers, yet she was. She loved seeing every expression he made. The first time she saw him laugh hysterically at her own expense, the look of determination he got when he got a new role. Even when he was sick, he said her name so sweetly. Her hand reached out to the poster but stopped short. If she touched it, it would reinforce that it wasn't real. That it wasn't him, just a picture, like the ones in her mind. Her hand curled up into a small fist, and she pulled it back over her heart. It was still beating, if only that was all it did.

Kyoko laid down on her futon staring at his picture. It was uncomfortable. She looked around and then stood up. She pushed her small table from the middle of the room to the side, and rotated her futon so he was the first thing she looked at in the morning and the last thing at night.

Darkness.

Flashes. Images. Random pictures of things from the past, of things she imagined crept up in her mind, asleep or awake. Everything was in black and white, in 2D, nothing was real. Was he really a part of her life? Perhaps she made him up, no one was that perfect.

A memory of him getting NG'd during Dark Moon played in her mind. Everyone was so shocked. The look on his face when he missed a note when he was learning how to play the piano, when he refused to believe that he caught a cold. He wasn't perfect and that made him even more amazing. The memory of him kissing Corn came to mind, and she jerked up.

"Corn!" She yelled out. How could she forget? Corn was always with her. _Corn will help me._ Kyoko looked around and found the small purse. She stood up and quickly took out the stone.

"Take it away. Take it away," she whispered on her knees, the stone being held tightly between her hands.

"No more pain. No more tears. No more hurtful memories. No more nice memories." She sighed painfully, "No more advice. No more rides. No more cooking for him. No more seeing his face. No more hearing his voice. No more Ren," she cried. It didn't work. Even Corn left her. He left her years ago. Crying again, she threw the stone across the room and hit something, knocking it to the floor.

She looked up and found it, a dried rose, Ren's birthday gift to her. She crawled over to the fallen vase and gently lifted it up. She pressed her lips together, tasting the salty tears, and slowly put the rose back into it. She clutched the vase, pressing it against her chest and started rocking back and forth, her tears falling upon the petals until sleep took over once again.

The next day, Kanae came over.

"Kyoko, I hear you haven't left your room. Why don't we go out? We can go anywhere you want. We can go shopping, watch a movie, eat ice cream. My treat," Kanae offered, looking for a reaction. She just laid there staring at his picture.

She moved into her line of sight and Kyoko blinked, "Moko…san?" Her voice was raspy like it was raw from over use.

"Yeah, I came to see how you were. Do you want to go anywhere? I'll take you anywhere you want?" She sat beside her once cheery friend and was about ready to cry. Kyoko looked so broken, so very lost.

"Anywhere?" Kyoko asked making Kanae's heart leap. She nodded enthusiastically.

"Ren," she whispered. Kanae pressed her lips together, but Kyoko continued, "I want to go to Ren's apartment."

Kanae took a deep breath, but nodded. "Ok, Kyoko, get dressed, and I'll take you there." She turned and made her way down stairs, then pulled out her cell.

It picked up on the forth ring.

"Hello?" A gentle voice carried through the phone.

"Yashiro-san, this is Kanae."

"Ah, It's good hearing from you again, Kotonami-san." There was a certain lift in his voice.

"Kanae!" She sighed, "Never mind, I have a request."

"Of course, anything."

"Can you get Kyoko and me into Ren's apartment?" She swayed around the hall as she spoke.

"Yes, but may I ask why?" Yashiro asked carefully.

"I really don't know, but Kyoko wants to go there, so I'm going to take her," she made her voice sound determined.

"Is that really a good idea? Especially so soon?" His voice sounded worried.

"It's what she wants. She hasn't left her room since we forced her back. She needs to get out and that's where she wants to go." Even her voice sounded worried. She hoped she was doing the right thing. She wanted what was best for her. She wanted her friend back.

"Ok. I'll call in and tell them to let you in. Bring your ID. I don't think they know you, but they know Kyoko-chan," he told her as he started flipping through his book to find Ren's building number.

"Thank you, Yashiro-san."Kanae hung up her phone as Kyoko appeared. She came down with a black shirt tucked into a dark grey form fitting skirt. She sat down and slipped on a pair of black ankle boots.

"I'm ready, Moko-san," her voice sounded empty. Shouldn't there be some sort of emotion in there, happiness or eagerness.

Okami-san heard her voice and quickly went to it. "Oh Kyoko, dear, I'm so happy to see you out. Thank you Kanae-chan," she said with relief. Kyoko left through the side door first as Kanae gave a small smile to meet with Okami-san's larger one. They arrived a few minutes later, traffic was light, and she didn't live too far away. They had all green lights and no issues; it seemed like the forces beyond wanted her to go to Ren's place. She pulled into the garage and found a visitor's parking spot. Kanae got out, but Kyoko didn't. Kanae turned around and bent down to peek through the window.

"We are here, Kyoko. We just need to get the key from management." She watched as Kyoko took a shaky breath and got out of the car. The only sounds in the area were their heels clacking on the cement floor. Her eyes kept flickering to her friend nervously, and Kyoko suddenly stopped.

"Kyoko, what's wrong?" Kanae asked but Kyoko wasn't looking at her. She looked to where Kyoko was staring off and saw nothing but cars. She took her hand.

"What is it? Did you see something?" Instead of answering, Kyoko squeezed Kanae's hand and started walking towards one of the cars dragging her along. It was white and foreign. As soon as they arrived, her hand was dropped, and Kyoko started walking around it.

"Is this his car?" She asked, and Kyoko only nodded her eyes shinny. Kanae watched her walk slowly to the driver side door and peek inside. Her hand gently traced the edge of the door and then hovered over the handle.

"Careful, it probably has an alarm," Kanae cautioned. Kyoko took a step back, her hand jerking back like she burned it. She started to walk away, never taking her eyes off it till she reached Kanae. Her eyes were swimming but nothing fell yet. She took Kanae's arm into hers hugging it to her body and leaned her forehead on her shoulder, her fingers weaving with Kanae's.

"Are you sure you want to go up there?" Kanae had to ask again. Perhaps Yashiro was right, maybe this was too much for her too soon.

"Please," a whisper barely audible making Kanae nod. They entered the side door which lead into the lobby. There was a man behind the counter, older but kind looking.

"Hello," Kanae greeted him, "Yashiro Yukihito called today about a key for Tsuruga Ren's apartment, 1202." She pulled out her wallet and then her ID but the man waved it off.

"Yes, I've got it." He looked at Kyoko who was still clinging on to Kanae's arm, "Hello, Kyoko-chan, how are you? I'm so sorry about what happened, I know you two were close."

Kanae held her breath nervously, but Kyoko just smiled a very small smile and bowed slightly. "Thank you, Kono-san and thank you for letting us in," she whispered loudly, her voice still raw from her sorrow.

"It's the least I can do." He handed her a key card. "Stay as long as you like."

They took the elevator up to the twelve floor, they didn't run into anyone else on the way. As Kanae slipped the key in, Kyoko tightened her grip causing her to pause.

"Do you need a moment?" Kanae asked and wanted to take her somewhere else. Anywhere else, Kanae would eat nothing but sweets for a month if it would deprive her friend of any pain. Kyoko just shook her head, and Kanae opened the door.

She took off her shoes and looked up. This was the first time Kanae has been in his apartment, and she was appalled. This place was huge! It was bigger than what she grew up in and only one freaking person lived here! What a waste of space and money. She turned around, looking at the place and found Kyoko staring at the bottom of the door.

"Something wrong with the door?" She walked back over and looked at the door herself then she heard something. "Did you say something?"

"He closed the door on my ankle. It actually hurt quite a bit." Kyoko whispered a little louder. Kanae was a bit shocked, why would he do that? Before she could ask, Kyoko closed the door and slipped off her boots. She turned and stepped up the small ledge into the hall.

"He's really so strong, he was pushing me out and no mater how I planted my feet, I kept moving towards the door." She stopped in the middle of the hallway and placed her fingertips on the wall. "He faked a dizzy spell and fell here." She reached out and tried to grab something in the air. "I helped him up," she said reminiscing.

Kanae listened as she spoke of her memories here. She was surprised about how often and how long she stayed. Kyoko walked to into the living room, her hand caressed the arm of the couch. "His hands were so gentle when he treated my wound."

Kyoko turned around and went into the kitchen. "The first meal I cooked for him was a soup, when he was sick, and I made a stamina drink that he hated." A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. Kanae sat down on one of the stools at the counter.

"I fell." Her hand reached up, and she could barely touch the cabinet above. "He caught me," her voice dipped to an extremely soft whisper. She wrapped her arms around herself and lowered herself to her knees.

"He held me so tightly; I was so scared and nervous. Then he asked me if I had any experience in kissing." Again Kanae was shocked. How bold. He was actually that bold with her? How could this girl think he didn't love her?

"I should have let him teach me," she confessed, "At least I would have had that memory too, even if he was in character." She stood up and walked towards the opposite side of the room and went through a door to her right. Kanae walked behind her and saw her sitting in an empty tub.

"I took a bath here too, a very quick one," she admitted quickly, her nerves showing even now. She looked so small in the huge spa like tub. She hopped out and turned towards the small hall and into another room. Kanae paused at a closed door and wondered what was in it. She shook her head and stepped into what she guessed was his bedroom. It was massive. No one needed a bedroom this big. She found Kyoko sitting on the edge of a… can you call that thing a bed? Kyoko ran her hand across the sheet.

"I couldn't believe that beds came in this size. I wondered why he needed such a big bed." Kanae really didn't need to think too hard as to why. Kyoko crawled up onto it, and then flopped down right in the middle.

"It smells like him," she said with a happy sigh. She rolled around it like a cat. "He always smelled so good, so warm." Kanae was afraid of sitting on the bed, so she stayed standing. She didn't want her to stop her memory trail. Kyoko was a shadow of her former self but this was a good thing. This was a start.

"Do you think he has any food?" Kanae asked, management said they could stay, so why not have lunch here.

Kyoko giggled. She actually giggled. "No. He never had food. He has menus though. Lots of delivery menus." Kanae walked out towards the living room as Kyoko crawled across the large bed. She waited at the couch while Kyoko pulled out a drawer from the kitchen then proceeded to take out a large stack of menus. She walked over, sat next to Kanae and piled them onto her lap.

"You weren't kidding." They looked through twenty different menus and finally settled on one and ordered. Kyoko spoke about more things she did with Ren here. She smiled lots as she spoke, and there was a light in her eyes again. The food came, and they ate the table in the living room. She spoke of the television show they saw together, and then she looked down sadly.

"He never knew I was Bo," she spoke softly.

"Bo? How does Bo come into the picture?" Kanae was confused.

"He was worried about something, and I dressed as Bo to help him. Bo helped him when I couldn't because why would he tell his kohai anything. He told me there was a girl. A girl younger than him that he liked, liked romantically." Kyoko face crinkled in pain. "I wonder who she was?" her voice faded out as she spoke the last line.

"Kyoko, do you remember when he got mad at you for lying about doing Fuwa's PV?" Kyoko nodded ,and Kanae continued, "Or when you told me he came early to Karuizawa because of the Vie Ghoul thing. He even rescued you from Reino." Kanae moved over closer to her and looked straight into her eyes.

"He loved you, Kyoko. I've told you this before. He was jealous. Why would he be jealous if he didn't have feelings for you? You are the girl he was talking about. I'm his kohai too, and he didn't treat me like he treated you." She paused looking at Kyoko's shocked face. "You only care for someone that much if you love them."

"No," Kyoko said as she shook her head, "He was just being nice, and you're so busy. I'm sure he would have done the same for you. Besides you care for me just as much as he does, and you don't…"

"Don't you dare say I don't love you," Kanae's voice was venomous, "You are my only friend, and I love you. You are my sister. People love you. Okami-san and the Taisho love you. Maria-chan loves you. Takarada-san loves you. Yashiro-san loves you. Tsuruga Ren loved you!" Kanae yelled out as Kyoko shook her head violently.

"Why, why, why, why, WHY! Why are you saying this?" Tears were falling freely, "Why are you telling me this now? What is the point in realizing that all this time he loved me? He's dead!" Kyoko gasped and shocked by her words, "He's gone, and you tell me useless things of love."

Kyoko stood up. "It doesn't matter if he loved me or not. It doesn't matter that I love him. That isn't going to change how things are now. It isn't going to bring him back."

Kanae stood up. "Ok. I'm sorry. Kyoko, I'm sorry. I'll… I'll take you home. Ok?" she reached for her hand, but Kyoko moved it away.

"No. I want to stay here," she said solemnly.

"Alone?"

"Yes. No. I don't care. I just want to be surrounded by him," She whispered, her hand clutching her other arm.

"For how long?"

"I don't know." Kyoko stood there weeping softly. Kanae nodded and picked up her purse.

"Ok then, I'll come by tomorrow. Do you have your cell?" Kanae asked.

Kyoko looked around and didn't see her purse, then shook her head. "No purse."

"Ok, I'll get it and bring it to you and some clothes." She looked around for a moment. "Are you sure you'll be ok here?" Kyoko just nodded, and she had to take that. She had to trust her. Kanae came back the next day with clothes, her cell and food. Yesterday when she left, everything was neat and organized. Now there were things pulled out and all over the counters. Everything was still rather clean, but this was not the norm.

"Kyoko?" Kanae called out as she set things down and looked around. The locked door was open this time. It was a gym, a rather nice, fully equipped gym. She continued and found her asleep in his bed buried in pillows and blankets. It looked really comfortable actually. She didn't know when Kyoko went to bed, so she didn't want to wake her up. She left her clothes on his dresser and then put the food away in the fridge. Her cell was dead, so she set it to charge on the kitchen countertop alone with a note, then left.

Kyoko could smell him and was warm. Everything was fuzzy and white. There was a tall figure in the distance, and she could hear her name being called. She didn't recognize the person though she somehow knew who it was.

"Tsuruga-san?" she took a step towards him then another, the closer she got the fuzzier he was.

"Is that you?" The figure moved, it looked like he was holding out a hand towards her. She ran. but he started blending into the white mist.

"Wait please, don't leave." The figure's arms were stretched out, and she thought she saw his jaw move, like he was speaking.

"What? I can't hear you." He motioned for her to come, the moment she fell upon him he wasn't there. She turned around franticly, looking in all directions but there was nothing. Nothing but white, endless white.

"REN!" She woke up in his bed, sweating and breathing hard. She fell back onto the bed and grabbed a pillow hugging it to her chest. After some time, she got up. She noticed a bag. She looked through it and found clothes of hers. Then she looked down at the dresser. She stared at it for a moment and then opened up a drawer, socks. She opened the one below it, shorts. Then another, blushing she slammed that one shut, underwear. She stepped away from the dresser and moved to the closet.

The first thing she noticed was the scent that came wafting out. She inhaled deeply then looked inside. There were so many different types of shirts, T-shirts, business, dress, long sleeves, sleeveless. She picked out a simple black tank, it was so soft as she caressed her cheek with it. She closed the door and moved down to the next, there were all his pants, different colored slacks and lots of jeans. There was also all his ties in three different tie racks. She grabbed a light grey tie with rich cornflower blue designs on it. She loved this tie, for some reason it made his dark eyes flicker with blue.

She went back to the dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts, black with a blue stripe going down the side, they were probably his work out shorts, one of many. She dipped into the clothing bag and took out her underwear. She took everything and headed to his personal bathroom. She looked inside but there wasn't a bath, just a very large beautiful shower.

Kyoko looked around for the towels then turned on the water. On a small built in shelf was his body wash and shampoo. She took the body wash and smelled the bottle. It was him. She loved it here. Everything was him, like he never left. She stepped into the shower and let the water fall over her skin and sighed.

She took what was probably an expensive luffa and began to wash herself with his soap. The scent was heady, rich and earthy. The shampoo smelled just as wonderful. The shower ended too quickly, but she stepped out and dried off. She slipped on her underwear then pulled on the shirt. It fit her terribly, but she didn't care. It was his, and he wore it and now she did. The shorts fell down below her knees, and she loved them. She took the tie and just hung it around her neck, her fingers playing with the ends that hung down.

She found her cell and the note from Kanae, she didn't bother with the food since she wasn't hungry. She had looked for every single thing that was unique to the apartment, the things that someone bought because they liked it not because they needed it. There weren't any pictures of anyone though, his family, his friends, nothing. He never spoke about his family actually. Kyoko noticed his laptop and booted it up. The first thing it asked for was a password. She huffed then looked around. There were no notes or anything that could clue her in as to what it was.

She tried things she knew about him, his birthday, acting, Katsuki, Ring Doh, Tokyo, LME, even his name, nothing worked. She decided to try something else. She hadn't spoken to him since the hospital, but he's known Ren for longer than she had.

Again the phone answered quickly, "Hello?"

"Hello, Yashiro-san. How are you doing?"

"K..Kyoko-chan! Um, I'm doing better, everything is healing nicely. Thank you. How are you? Are you still at Ren's apartment?" His words were rushed, his nerves getting the best of him.

He would know, someone must have told him, Kanae probably. "I'm ok. I was wondering if you could help me," Kyoko asked.

"Anything if I can. Whatever it is." He hoped not to sound over eager. He hated how they left things between them at the hospital.

"Do you know Tsuruga-san's password for his laptop?" She asked quietly.

"Oh, Kyoko, I don't. He wouldn't tell me that even if I could touch it. I'm sorry." A cynical laugher came over the phone. "That seems to be the only thing I can tell you these days."

"Do you have an idea of what it could be? Like his first job or his first car?" Yashiro started listing out things it could be. She tried them all, favorite color, all his movies and shows, all his acting roles. She was thankful it didn't have a lockout; she would have reached it ages ago.

"Did you try your name?" Yashiro suggested.

She licked her lips. She heard and understood what Kanae had said, but it was one thing to have it told to you from someone and another to get it in proof. She typed in Mogami. Nothing happened. She typed in Kyoko.

It worked.

"Thank you, Yashiro-san." She hung up. The screen started to load and an image appeared: the background. It was a picture of them; she remembered this. They had to do a photo shoot for Dark Moon. He sat behind her with his coffee mug in hand, and she leaned up against his desk looking at the camera. She was smiling as herself not as Mio, one of the few shots that were done out of character. She looked at it closer; his eyes seemed to be looking at her rather than the camera.

Her hand was over her mouth as the programs finally loaded. She saw a small icon of a folder that said My Pictures. Kyoko clicked on it and couldn't breath. Dozens and dozens of photos of her, some of them she didn't know were taken or who took them. There were fan pictures she did for Dark Moon and Box R. There were screen shots and edited wallpapers of her in Sho's PV as the angel. Then there were real pictures, of her sitting down next to him, of her standing at his side while they watched the other actors perform, even one of them eating lunch together.

She slammed the laptop down. Her heart was pounding, the sound filling her ears. She stood up and the small chair crashed to the floor making her jump. Thoughts, words, memories flooder her mind as air was forced in and out of her lungs painfully.

All the kind words and advice, the rides, every time he smiled that dazzling smile that made her weak and her heart skip, the random lunches and dinner invites, the looks he gave her. Shock coursed through her body, those were all notions of love. It's all true. She remembered another look, one that scared her when she saw it. She was so scared of that look, but then she wasn't. In fact, deep down she knew what that look meant, and she even produced a weaker version of it for Natsu.

Ren wanted her. He loved her and found her attractive. Every thump of her heart hurt, her head wouldn't stop. She fell against the wall and slid down to the floor. She wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her head in them, soaking the cloth of his shorts with her tears. Her mind continued it's assault and thoughts of them together started to form, things that never happened, awkward touches and glances, their first date or their thirtieth, their first kiss, their hundredth kiss, getting married, moving in, making love, having children, growing old together. Things that will never happen now, things that she never thought possible in her life. Suddenly everything in her life seemed to be filled with him and misery filled her. It seemed to take over every cell in her body, every thought that entered her mind. She cried for hours till she was dry. Even then she still felt like she was crying though no tears fell. She pushed herself into his bed and stayed there.

Days went by, the only thing that told her what time of the day it was, was Kanae. Morning, noon and night, Kanae would call or stop by. She would call each morning to wake her up, call during lunch to tell her to eat and stop by each night to make her eat and bathe. She did what she was told like a good obedient girl. Kanae always had such an authoritative voice.

Soon Kyoko stopped trying. What was the point? She would never be able to act again; it would remind her of him. Maybe she should go back home to Kyoto. They probably wouldn't accept her after running away. Go somewhere new? Somewhere where she could try and forget, try to move on. She could always get a job as a cook somewhere.

Kanae brought over some her things. It didn't help. Now her things were mixed in with his like she lived there. Queen and Princess Rosa were placed in the middle of the table. Princess Rosa delicately hung around the vase's neck. When they ate, she would just stare at her gifts thinking of the story he told her, of how she felt when he knew her birthday and bought something just for that reason. Just for her. How did he know her birthday?

Kanae spoke about her day, about things that were happening in Love Me, anything to try and get her to smile, to get her to do anything but breathe. She even spoke about Kyoko's jobs, saying they missed her, wished her well and hoped she came back soon. Kanae kept everyone in the loop as to how Kyoko was doing but tried to censor some of it out. She lost weight, which Kanae didn't think possible, her skin was pale, and Kanae helped her keep up what she could. She tried to pamper her since Kyoko loves make-up and doing girl things. Kanae did her nails, facials and made her use lotion, but that can only do so much if she wasn't drinking water. Kanae tried everyday to get her to come back.

Back to being the old Kyoko.

_Back at LME..._

Lory was furious. Actually furious didn't really cover what he was feeling. Hurt, angry and murderous were just a few of the words that described how he felt at the moment.

"Do you realize all the problems you have caused? The damage you've caused to everyone? Were you even thinking?" He yelled into the phone.

"No, we weren't. We just reacted. We just wanted to make sure our baby boy was safe. We thought you'd be happy," Kuu spoke confused.

"You could have told me. You could have picked up the phone, sent a messenger, an email, something anything to let me know what you did. I was left in the dark after everything, Kuu!" Lory screamed at the stupid man on the other end.

"He was found unconscious, blood was everywhere, and they were going to take him to some public hospital. We couldn't have that. He was dying. We were so worried, can't you understand that?" Kuu pleaded.

Lory countered, "How do you think it feels not knowing where he is? Not knowing if he was alive or dead or even in a coma, if he drowned or died from loss of blood in some random location. IT'S BEEN ALMOST A MONTH, KUU, OF NOT KNOWING ANYTHING!"

"I'm sorry," Kuu spoke softly, guilt lacing his voice, "we were beside ourselves as he slept then he woke up, and we couldn't wait to tell everyone."

"You should have called sooner. Everyone is in mourning. I could have done some damage control. Kyoko is…"

"Oh, oh God, Kyoko, I didn't even think…" Kuu interrupted Lory at the mention of her name.

"Yes, we have established that," Lory interrupted then sighed.

"You must tell her and bring her here. Tell her that he's ok, that he is finally awake. Ren is alive."

**A/N: Haha, see I didn't kill him off, this is a happy story.**


	9. Solace

A/N: I do not own Skip Beat.

Chapter 9 – Solace

Kyoko was awake, if you could call this awake. Kanae left about an hour ago. As always she promised she would come back tomorrow after work. Kyoko drifted in and out of sleep. Sometimes she would see things that made her believe she was dreaming, but her eyes were open. Other times she would do things and found herself still asleep.

There was a loud slamming noise. She opened her eyes and glanced up to the window. It was dark, no one should be visiting her, and only Kanae visited her. There was running, and they didn't take off their shoes.

"KYOKO!" She heard her name calling out franticly. Kanae's voice rang through the apartment, "KYOKO! GET UP!" She felt the bed shift under her friend's weight. She turned to her side and covered herself up with the blankets.

The sheets were torn off. "Kyoko! He's alive. Get up! We have to go," Kanae yelled as she tried to get Kyoko out of bed. Kyoko must be dreaming again. She's had this dream before. Kanae, Yashiro, sometimes even Ren himself would appear out of no where and her heart would soar, and then she woke up and felt herself break all over again.

"Come on, Kyoko, please get up. Get dressed. Lory is waiting down stairs. Ren is alive." Kanae grabbed her arm and was trying to drag her off the bed slowly.

She yanked her arm from her grip. "Stop it Moko, this is cruel," she said tiredly as she started to move back to the middle of the bed but was stopped. Kanae grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at her.

***SMACK*** A loud crack echoed in the room as Kyoko clutched her cheek. Her face stung and burned hot. "Are you awake now?" Kanae asked loudly, looking fiercly into her golden brown eyes and spoke slowly, "Ren… is… alive."

If this was a dream she didn't want to wake up. She clung on to Kanae's arms and started to move out of bed. She stepped onto the floor and her legs couldn't support her weight making Kanae catch her.

"Whoa. Ok, take it slow, I told you to walk around more." After Kyoko stood on her own, Kanae walked over and pulled out some of her clothes, but Kyoko wasn't in the room.

"Kyoko!" Kanae called out, but Kyoko was already in the living room. Instead of dragging her back to get her dressed, Kanae grabbed her clothes, her brush and then ran after her, grabbing a pair of random shoes. Kyoko wanted to take the stairs, but they were twelve stories up, so she ran to the elevator. There she saw Lory holding the elevator open.

"Where's…ah." Lory started to ask but found his answer. Kanae came running behind her, arms full of various items. As they rode the elevator down, Kyoko was shaking. Kanae was shuffling things and looked at her. She was swimming in one of Ren's shirts making it look like she was wearing a dress. She lifted up the hem and noticed her wearing a pair of her own shorts. _This is ok._ She bent down and helped Kyoko put on her shoes, basic Keds.

"Is this really happening?" Kyoko asked as her fingers felt her cheek where Kanae slapped her, it still hurt.

"Yes, his parents stole him away as soon they took him off the boat and took him to a private doctor. They didn't have the decency to tell me anything, but they finally called a little bit ago. I called you but there was no answer, then I called your home, and they told me Kanae-chan had you."

"His parents?" Kyoko asked still in a daze.

Lory flashed a cautious look at her and just nodded. They piled into a bright red foreign car, Sebastian at the wheel as usual, Lory sat beside him and Kanae and Kyoko in the back. Kanae fussed over Kyoko as they rode out.

"Where are we going?" Kyoko asked as Kanae forced a bottle of water into her hands and she looked at it awkwardly. Nothing felt real yet.

"Drink it," Kanae ordered, and she did. The water felt good as it hit her dry throat.

"A privately owned hospital," Lory answered, "They are actually very small, with only three to four patients at a time but their equipment and care is something most hospitals could only dream of. It is a bit away though. We'll get there as soon as possible."

Kyoko moved when Kanae gently pushed her to. Kanae pulled her around so Kyoko could face her and unbuttoned the last few buttons of the shirt to tie it in a knot at her waist. Kyoko drank the bottle of water fast then was given another.

"Drink it slowly," Kanae told her and then turned her around and started combing her hair. She was actually used to this as she did it so often recently. This time she styled it, giving it her spunky flare it used to have. After that, she did her make-up, actually she just put on lip-gloss and very light make-up trying to hide the wear and tear she did to herself. An hour later they finally arrived. None of Kyoko's dreams lasted this long, none of them were this drawn out; none of them made her feel like her heart was going to explode. For the first time in a long time, her mind was blank. She didn't know what to think. She didn't want to hope.

They pulled up to a gate and drove in. It looked like an old style residence, one where multiple families lived together in one large estate. The first thing you saw was a large building then to its left and right were smaller ones, like smaller homes next to the main family. The car slowed to a stop in front of the main building and Kyoko ran out of the car and into the building. It looked like any other ordinary office. There was a main desk with a nurse behind it.

"Tsuruga Ren," Kyoko spoke the name with hope in her voice, real hope. The nurse looked down at some paperwork and shook her head.

"I'm sorry I don't have anyone by that name," she replied casually.

Kyoko was about to scream, but Lory's hand on her shoulder and his words stopped her, "Hizuri Kuon."

The nurse smiled. "Ah, ok, he is in the third cabin." She pointed to her left, out the window. Kyoko followed her direction with her eyes and saw the house the nurse was referring too. She ran out and across the yard. She ran to the small cabin to the right. It was dark, and she didn't notice the beautiful blonde couple that stood to the side as she ran inside. The first thing she saw was a small sitting area, couch, TV, table, shelves. She stepped up and then remembered her shoes. She quickly took them off and then padded into the room. It was lived in, very much so.

She heard sounds, felt a presence coming from the room to her left. She licked her lips and swallowed. She was so scared, so nervous. What if this wasn't real? What if it wasn't really him? She walked towards the doorway, trembling, her heart hammering against her chest. She took a deep breath and looked in the doorway. There he was.

She cried out, a sound between a cry of relief, a squeal of excitement, and a groan as the pain in her chest left.

"Mogami-san," Ren spoke with a small smile. She heard him. He was really there, and he sounded wonderful.

"Ren," she cried out and launched herself to him. She crawled to the bed and wrapped her arms around him.

"I thought you were gone. Everyone thought you were gone. I was so scared. I missed you so much," She sobbed as she felt his warm arms hold her. He never thought he would hear anything like those words from her. If it wasn't for the pain she was causing him, he would have thought he did die.

"I've missed you too, Kyoko, but I'm still sore," he admitted with a light laugh. She quickly jerked away and that brought a sound of pain from his lips.

"I'm sorry!" She looked at him, all of him. On his upper right lip there was a red freshly healed cut and again on the corner of his right eyebrow bigger though. His gown looked misshapen around his left side and around his ribs. The last thing she could see was his hands as the blanket started at his stomach; two of his fingers on his right hand had a silver metal splint. He was sitting in a slight incline and after three weeks, he still looked hurt. She started to crawl off the bed, but he captured her wrist.

"Don't. Don't leave. Just come over here." He patted a space to his right. She nodded and walked around the bed to sit beside him, her torso twisted so she can see him. She looked at him and wanted to touch him but was frightened to hurt him again. The blanket was hiding everything. She bit her lip worried, and he recognized the look in her eyes. His mother had the same look after he woke up.

"Come here." He took her hand and pulled her gently towards him.

"No, I don't know where you're hurt. I don't want to hurt you," Kyoko admitted. He placed his hand on his chest where the malformed bulk was, then at his ribs sliding across both sides, then placed it low in his abdomen closer to the center then again high on his right thigh. Then he picked up his right hand.

"That's it. Everything else was just some bruising and those are mostly gone." He looked at her, his face was cautious. He didn't know what to do or ask. Can he ask her to stay, to lay down next to him? His thoughts were of her before he blacked out from the gun shots, her face smiling up at him, those golden brown eyes sparkling with delight. Kyoko moved up on the bed, and put his arm on her lap. She started to caress his arm gently, her soft finger tips running up and down his skin.

"I'm so happy you are ok, Ren," she said softly. A wet tear fell on his arm, and she wiped it away then turned to look at him with a watery smile. He smiled back at her. It was the smile, the one that melted away the worry in her life, the anger, the sadness, the one that gave her strength and encouraged her.

"I always wanted you to say my name like that," he confessed making her blush. He brought his left hand over, his fingertips ran down the side of her face. She picked up her hand and held his palm against her cheek, covering half of her face in his hand. She tilted her head to it, closing her eyes and felt his warmth fill her, comfort her. He was real and truly alive and with her. Ren was alive.

"What happened to your cheek?" He asked concern in his voice.

"Moko-san hit me," She spoke softly, her lips gently moving against the heel of his hand.

Ren was taken aback. "Why?"

"I didn't believe her when she told me you were alive." Her expression grew sad. "I had so many dreams, so many nightmares, and they all ended the same way. I didn't think this one would be any different." She took his hand and started moving it as she spoke. Kyoko first glided his fingers down her face till it reached her jaw line, and then she moved it to the other side of her face, with her reddened cheek and pressed it to the back of his hand, both her hands to hold his.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you went through all that," he whispered sincerely. Ren curled his fingers around her hand, and she let out a short laugh.

"I hated every second of it." She brought his hand back down to her lap. Her soft warm hands felt wonderful on his skin.

"But it made me see some things," her voice went soft, "and I had so many regrets. I…." She took a deep breath. Even after everything she found out about her, about him, she was still nervous, still scared of his reaction.

His hand curled around her hip. "You what, Kyoko?" He prodded saying her first name again which make her smile and her heart beat wildly.

Looking at him. "Promise me you'll always call me by my first name?" She asked in a light tone. He smiled again making warmth radiated through her.

"Yes, forever," he responded happily.

Kyoko thought about what to say and thought perhaps she should start from the top. "We have a common friend," she started. Ren looked confused, was she talking about Yashiro?

She looked away and then fought herself to look at him. _No shying away._ "You were sitting alone looking worried, and you found help in an unusual package." She paused and mentally slapped herself. _Ugh, he just came out of a coma, and I'm playing mind games with him because I'm scared._

"I'm sorry. I'm nervous. I shouldn't be. Everyone told me I was a fool not to notice, but I forced myself into a box." Kyoko looked into his eyes.

"Mars Cluster was your debut role, right?" Ren nodded, and she continued, "Well my first job wasn't the Kyurara commercial. Bo. Bo from Kimagure Rock in TBM Studios is my first paying job." She stopped and let him process what she told him. She watched the different emotions play on his face, small subtle movements giving him away, surprise, concern, humor, confusion. Before he got to speak, she continued, "You spoke about a girl about someone younger that you liked." She looked down and hesitantly removed her hands from his arm. She didn't want to be touching him if he rejected her.

"Ren, I love you," Kyoko told him as loud as she could which ended up as a whisper and still her voice almost cracked. She looked up to the ceiling, tears threatening to fall and asked, "Is that girl me?"

She felt his arm move in her lap, and his hand gently took her right hand. She looked down and followed it as he pulled it towards him. She finally looked into his eyes as he kissed her hand. She smiled and let go of the breath she was holding. She went to her knees on the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

His hand found its way into her hair, the other to the small of her back and whispered into her hair, "It's always been you, since I was ten."

She pulled away, her hands on his shoulders, "Ten?"

He nodded. "I was ten when a dark haired girl found me by a stream, crying," Ren finally confessed his origins and watched as understanding filled her eyes.

"C…Corn?" then another surprise hit her, and she sat back. "Kuon! Hizuri Kuon. Takarada-san had to say that name to find where you were."

He nodded sadly. "I didn't mean to keep this from you, but I have a past. A dark one, that I…" he paused trying to find the words, "one that will take a while to go through, and then I can only hope that you'll understand. But…" He let the hurt and worry fill his face as he spoke, "I'll understand if you can't love me after I tell you."

Kyoko felt a flash of panic and a sharp pain go through her at his words. "What are you talking about? I don't care if you are an international drug lord or if you killed a hundred men." She shook her head. "I thought I lost you. Ren, Corn, Kuon, do you love me?" She placed her hands on his face, holding him.

"Yes. Yes, I love you," Ren quickly replied as his hand grabbed hers.

"Then I don't care," she whispered and kissed him.

In a strange turn of events, he was the one to stiffen. She pressed her soft lips against his, gently kissing him for the first time. He never thought she would be the one to initiate the first kiss, the first one to confess. Guilt went through him. He shouldn't be so happy, he didn't deserve it. Her scent invaded his senses, it was only micro seconds for him to think things through and he then kissed her back.

She kissed him and hoped that she was doing it right. Her worries were washed away as a small moan escaped his lips, but not from pain. He opened his lips slightly and kissed her, lightly sucking. Her fingers sunk back into his hair, and she felt him pull her towards him. His arms wrapped around her, his right around her waist and his left up her back and behind her neck. She was pressed against his right side, and she struggled not to hurt him remembering the wound on his right thigh. She felt his tongue lick her lower lip, and she pulled away in shock.

"Sorry," Ren quickly apologized with a little blush. He didn't want anything to scare her away, especially himself.

She shook her head and smiled. "No, I'm sorry. It just surprised me." She giggled. "I want you to do whatever you like." She put her head on his good shoulder and nuzzled his neck.

"Kyoko, you really shouldn't say things like that." His voice was dark, deep. She pulled away slightly, saw the emperor of the night and blushed. She looked at him bashfully and then tentatively kissed him again. He growled, and she laughed as he stole her lips again. A whimper slipped from her throat as his hand found where her shirt ended and slipped across her bare skin. No one has touched her there before, his hand, even with the metal splint, made her quiver as it moved up the curve of her spine.

*Cough*

Kyoko pulled away blushing, and Ren reluctantly let her go. _Caught making out with my injured boyfriend_. She smiled to herself, 'boyfriend'. That didn't seem right, but she pushed the thought away as she noticed who it was.

"Kyoko," Ren's voice pulled her attention to him, "I believe you know my father."

Kuu smiled a huge friendly smile and stepped into the room with his arms out. "Kuon!" Kyoko got off the bed, careful not to hurt Ren and ran into her father's arms. He picked her up and hugged her as she laughed.

"You really should call her by her real name, dear," a woman's voice came in behind them, and Kuu set her down.

"And this is my mother, Julie," Ren introduced her. The woman stepped through with a smile. She was beautiful, but that was putting it mildly. She had long thick wavy blonde hair that fell to the middle of her back. She was thin and gave the impression of being fragile. She gave such a presence that Kyoko was in awe of her.

Kyoko bowed down politely and greeted her, "It's so very nice to meet you, Hi…"

"Don't you are call me that, you call him Otou-san, you better call me Okaa-san," Julie declaried as she walked in and forced Kyoko to stand up straight. Julie then wrapped her arms around a shocked but extremely happy Kyoko. Kyoko found that Julie was not fragile; in fact she was just as strong as Kuu was with his hug.

Julie pulled away with a little smile. "Besides, once you marry, we really will be your parents."

"Mother," Ren threatened.

"What?" Julie asked innocently, "I'm just saying." Kyoko blushed prettily at the thought of it.

"We are happy you are here, Kyoko, and we are so very sorry for not telling you sooner. I hope you can forgive our selfishness," Julie spoke, and Kyoko wondered what she would have done in their situation, finding him in a sea of blood, unconscious, then in a coma. She doubted she would have been able to think of anyone else herself. In fact, she really couldn't think of anyone but him this whole time.

"I think I would have done the same, but it was still…." Kyoko couldn't find the words, and Kuu just held up his hand.

"We'll spend the rest of our lives making it up to you, but now we should go and let Kuon get his rest," Kuu said and both of the women in the room pouted.

Kyoko turned to Ren and walked to the edge of his bed. "May I see you tomorrow?" She asked. Behind her, Kuu ushered the romance watching Julie out of the cabin.

"You better," Ren threatened playfully making her grin. He took her hand in his, and pulled her towards him. Kyoko blushed but leaned down for another kiss. She smiled against his lips and let out a little chuckle.

"This is becoming a habit. Is it always going to be like this?" She asked shyly.

"No," he replied making her frown. He pulled her into another chase kiss.

"I won't be in a bed," he said softly. His fingers moved to the knot of her shirt, just below it, and she gasped softly as he touched her stomach, "and if I am kissing you in bed, you're going to be lying here with me." He moved his fingers across her skin, touching her belly button then moved to her waist and up her back. A shaky breath escaped her lips as his hand slid up her back and the knot became loose. A noise came from deep in his chest making her open her eyes to look at him. The emperor looked back at her, and she had to catch her breath.

"You were in a rush," he emphasized the word were. His fingers lightly caressed the middle of her back, and her eyes widened as blood flushed her cheeks. She quickly backed up, hiding her chest in her arms. She forgot to wear a bra, and he found out!

"Is that my shirt?" He asked, and she didn't think she could blush any harder.

**A/N: Kyaa, they are together! I was so happy writing this chapter.**


	10. Epilogue

Epilogue

_The next day_

The doors opened at 8am and not 15 minutes later did the first person come in. The conference room filled up well before the scheduled time. The exceptionally large room felt incredibly small as all the eager minds sat and spoke among themselves, wondering and imagining their own scenarios of what had happened.

The press conference started at 10am sharp. President Lory Takarada stepped up on stage, flashes going off and cameras rolling during the live feed.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming today after such short notice. I also would like to apologize that the focus of this press conference is unable to attend due to the nature of his injuries." He looked around the bright room, and saw the questions arise from every face.

"I called this press conference today to formally announce that Tsuruga Ren is alive and in recovery." He allowed a pause for applause and general relief of the news.

"To clarify the motivation of his uninformed absence, his family was concerned of his well being and immediately transferred him to a private physician. The family refrained from informing anyone his whereabouts from fear of his welfare."

Another pause, "Tsuruga Ren sustained several injures while trying to prevent the mistreatment of the cast and crew aboard the yacht, Big City. He suffered from severe blood loss from three gunshot wounds and was in a coma from blunt trauma for three weeks, which he has just awoken from about 40 hours ago."

Gasping and hushed whispers were momentarily heard within the room. Lory felt that his plan worked. They couldn't reveal who his family was so if they focused on his heroic feats and the injuries that were acquired from it, they wouldn't ask who his family was and hence his secret would still be secured.

"Tsuruga Ren will continue to be treated at the private hospital for the next two weeks to ensure his recovery before returning to the screen. We appreciate all of your prayers and good thoughts that have been received during this difficult time. Again thank you for coming," Lory concluded and walked off the stage with hundreds questions coming at him, but this was not an answer and question conference, just providing a statement; however, if he heard things correctly, not one person asked about his family. Lory smiled triumphantly.

_6 days later_

"It's not fair!" the woman pouted, and she still looked sexy doing it.

"What isn't fair?" her equally handsome husband asked concerned.

"How is it that he eats everything that she makes for him but I can't get him to eat my food?" Julie whined.

Ren and Kyoko looked up from their meals. She has been cooking his meal every day and every meal since she found him alive and well about a week ago. She wanted to make sure he kept his strength up from his three weeks of healing. She wasn't the only one who had lost weight from this endeavor.

"First off, mother, she doesn't make as much food as you do," Ren spoke truthfully. Because of his father's bottomless hole of a stomach, Julie grew accustomed to make food for 75 people just to feed her lone husband. The true reason he didn't eat was because she wasn't the greatest of cooks, but Ren didn't really have the heart to tell his mother that. Kyoko's cooking was perfect. She cooked the amount of food he could actually eat, and it was absolutely delicious. Every bite of her cooking teased and tantalized his tastes buds just as much as she did him.

"That's not true. She makes just as much as I do!" Julie countered.

"Yes, but that is for Otou-san!" Kyoko said cheerfully with a smile, and Kuu just nodded.

"She learned right away how to feed me, and she is a great cook," Kuu complimented her as he stuffed more tuna steak into his mouth, so tender and well seasoned. Kuu took a piece of it and offered it to Julie which she promptly ate.

"I agree." It was heavenly, Julie had to admit. "It's still not fair." Kyoko tried to keep from laughing. Julie acted like a spoiled child around her child, it was so cute. How this family could look so cute and yet be so attractive was a mystery to her.

Kuu took Julie to the other room trying to comfort his wife, "I eat all your food dear, and when do we ever have leftovers, hmm? Never."

Ren sighed relieved, and he heard Kyoko giggle.

"What are you laughing about?" Ren asked. He was doing much better now. Well he was fine for a few days now, but the doctor wanted to monitor him so there was no brain damage that sometimes came from the coma. He was tested on memory, music and did some elementary tests to prove his brain was functioning normally.

"You. You said "first off". What is the second?" she asked as she took another bite of her bento.

Ren blushed and then leaned forward whispering, "You've eaten her cooking right?" Julie actually cooked the day after everyone was together. Everything was either under seasoned, over seasoned, over cooked or had a weird combination of flavors.

Kyoko laughed, and Ren couldn't help but smile. "Well, she gets easily distracted, but she does well for so much. Perhaps if I cooked with her, I can help her focus besides the mabo nasu was good."

Ren remembered that one. The eggplant was perfectly cooked, but she overloaded the spices and made it extremely spicy. Ren just shuddered in response which again made Kyoko laugh.

"Ok, ok, no spicy food for you. I get it."

As they finished their meals, Kyoko started to pack up the dishes to take back home and clean for tomorrow. He hated this part of the day when she left. It was an hour drive out to this place, and Kyoko started working again a few days ago. It wasn't so bad since she only had the one show. Make that the two shows, Box-R and Bo. He still couldn't believe that one. She sat down on the bed and then laid down beside him as she always did at the end of the night. He would wrap his arm around her shoulders, and she would rest her head on his arm. Kyoko looked up at him as she played with his hand, her fingers running up and down his palm and then his fingers.

"Tomorrow you start your physical therapy right?" she asked worried.

"Yes, but I've been walking around already," he admitted, "They say it shouldn't take long." She smelled so good. He nuzzled her hair with his nose, inhaling her scent.

"You shouldn't push yourself so hard!" she lectured, "You could hurt yourself if you go too quickly, and you didn't move at all for three weeks."

Ren smiled. "Thank you."

"For what?" she looked up at him confused.

"For thinking of me, for worrying about me. I'll be fine. I promise I won't push myself."

Kyoko turned away and blushed. He couldn't take it when she did that. The blood rushing to her face and that coy sweet look she had. He took her chin and lifted her face to his. He looked into her eyes and saw the warmth in them, trust and uncertainty along with eagerness. She held such sweet innocence. The poor lamb with the hungry wolf.

Yet the moment his lips touched hers, the little lamb shed her woolen coat and became ravenous. Her hand slipped up his chest very lightly, still afraid to hurt him and over his shoulder as her lips provocatively played with his. She was always a fast learner. She moved her mouth against his, taking his lip between hers, then she would dart that little tongue of hers and lick his lips. It drove him mad, the quick peek of something sinful in something so chaste and innocent. His right arm held her against him as she teased him, while his left hand tried to bring her closer, sliding from her arm to her waist then to her thigh. He brought her thigh to slide over his, his hand flirting dangerously close to the seam of her shorts, and then he felt her pull away.

She licked her lips, her eyes still closed. "I should go," she whispered, her voice thick and seductive.

Ren nodded but cursed himself. He went too far. _She's only 17_. He smiled a small smile to her and replied softly, "I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"Yes, at 1 o'clock, and I'm free for the rest of the day," Kyoko told him and slipped off the bed, but then stopped and frowned, "But you'll be busy with the therapy right? Perhaps I should come later?"

"No, come when you can," Ren quickly replied, "You can help me." She nodded and bent down for a quick kiss goodnight.

_One week later_

Kuu and Julie returned home yesterday. They didn't want to go, but since Ren was alive and well and being well taken care of by Kyoko, they couldn't fight their contracts any further. Ren was happy to see them but was equally relieved to see them go as well. This was now the first time he was truly alone with Kyoko.

"Everything has been a huge mess," Yashiro stated. He was in the limo that was sent to pick up Ren. It was release day, and he was thrilled to be out again. He still had to take it easy, as too much movement would cause things to start to ache. They even supplied him with a cane should his leg start acting up.

"Everyone has been sending gifts, fans, companies, co workers, you name it, and they gave you something. People have been asking for rights to the story, and they want you to play yourself." Yashiro sat quietly for a moment, thinking.

"I wonder who would play me?" Yashiro asked rhetorically and then he shook his head coming back to reality. Ren just smiled while listening to Yashiro talk.

"The rest of the movie, _Blood for Blood,_ will be filmed here in Tokyo. I'm sorry to say that the memorial services for…" Yashiro paused for a moment. Ren understood, Yashiro grew up a violent free life then he was shoved into it and that takes a toll. From what Ren heard about it after he left, he was never prouder of Yashiro.

"…for everyone who died has passed." Yashiro's wounds had healed perfectly, but he had a scar on his shoulder now, not that anyone would be able to see it in his perfect suits. Sometimes, you'll catch him stretching out his shoulder with a small expression of pain.

"I'm trying to keep your schedule as light as possible so once you settle, we will go through everything and will pick what you think you can handle," Yashiro paused, "Let me rephrase that, whatever I think you can handle. You'd just say yes to everything, and Kyoko would say no to everything."

Kyoko bristled up at that. "I would not!"

Ren also disagreed, "I know when to stop." Yashiro and Kyoko both disagreed with Ren. They arrived at his apartment, and Kyoko insisted that she help him up.

"If you aren't going to use the cane, then you have to use me. Just lean on me whenever you feel like you need to," Kyoko told him frankly making Ren smile a mischievous smile.

"Ren!" the elevator doors opened, and he had her pinned against the wall.

"I couldn't help it. I'm so weak," he said patheticly. He pressed his body against hers, his arms wrapping around her as she laughed.

"You liar!" she said laughing, "And you're suppose to be the top actor." Ren let her escape, but he kept his arm around hers and would sometimes lean into her, where she would promptly glare at him. No one who could control his weight this well could be considered weak. They entered the apartment and everything was spotless. Kyoko honestly couldn't remember if the place was clean or not when she left with Kanae. Given her state then, she doubt it was.

"I wonder who cleaned," she spoke out loud rhetorically.

"I have a cleaning service come on the first and fifteenth every month. They generally do this whole building, so they are very professional. Why do you ask?" Ren asked.

Kyoko blushed lightly to herself and told him, "I may have moved some things around when I was here."

"Oh. I'm sure it's taken care of now." He ran his hand over her hair and then kissed the top of her head and headed into the apartment. While his place didn't scream of personal touches, he was still happy to be home.

"I'm going to see if there is anything in the kitchen that's still edible for lunch. You just rest." He watched her go into the kitchen opening cupboards and going through the food, dumping what was bad and taking inventory of what was still good. Ren looked around. He found Queen and Princess Rosa on his table top and smiled. After looking around that was the only thing of hers that he saw. He walked into the guest bedroom, and it was perfect. The closet door was open and showed nothing within.

_Perhaps she only brought the rose and necklace_. He stepped into his room, sat on the bed and stretched his leg a little, trying to loosen the stiffness from the wound. It was warm out, and he wanted to change into something cooler. He went to his dresser, opened up the drawer for his shorts and pulled out a pair. He then walked over to his closet for a tank. He pulled off one and then froze for a moment. He looked over to his left and saw something very colorful hanging there. He shuffled over and took out the top. It was a bright blue shirt with pink and white flowers all over it and a butterfly on its right shoulder. He put it back and found another shirt, a pale yellow tank that felt silky to the touch, then next to it was a off white sundress. Ren smiled as he put away her clothes back in his closet. He moved to his other closet and sure enough there were two skirts hanging in the mist of his pants.

A dark thought entered his mind, and he went back to his dresser. He opened his drawers one at a time before reaching his desired goal. There they were. Things he had no business seeing but oh so desperately wanted to see on her though. The palest of pinks, blues and yellow along with white and the cutest patterns, her panties and bras laid neatly in his dresser in one of the smallest drawers because of how few there were. He closed the drawer quietly and then headed to his bathroom. He found her personal effects, deodorant, toothbrush and hair brush next to the sink where his were. Surely, he was in heaven. He was grinning like a fool when he emerged changed. Kyoko made them lunch, and he ate it happily, his thoughts lingering to her in his home, living with him everyday.

"You seem really happy. Happy to be home?" Kyoko asked inquisitively.

He nodded as he ate. "I am. How could I not be? I am alive and well, my secret didn't come out no matter how hard my parents tried, and I have the love of my life with me and has already moved in without me asking. The best welcome home gift possible." He grinned at her. He had slowly moved closer to her as he spoke. Now he was a breath away.

"Moved in?" Her voice was high and nervous.

"Mmmhmm. All your things are already put away with mine, and you're not getting it back."

"But, Kuon, I…We…" He kissed her, swallowing her words of protest. He pushed her gently down to the floor as he kissed her. She whimpered softly as she kissed him back.

"Ok," she spoke breathlessly. He grinned, winning the battle, pulled her up and sat back in his place. She licked her lips, trying to recover from his wanted assault.

"But I'm sleeping in the guest room!" she stood up and ran.

"We'll see about that," he replies stalking her. She ran into the bedrooms... where the only escape was through him.

**A/N I hope you liked this extra chapter and that it helps counteract the depressing ones from before. Thanks for reading.**


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